Walk down Main Street at The Wharf in Orange Beach on a summer evening and you’ll pass shoppers, diners, concertgoers heading to the amphitheater and fishing crews unloading at the marina. More than 15 years after it opened, the development on the Intracoastal Waterway functions as the city’s town center, and the people who run it say the plan is to keep adding to it.
In a late-2023 interview, Jim Bibby, owner representative at The Wharf, and Mary Kate Lantrip, its social media manager, talked about how the property came back from receivership, what it contributes to tourism in Orange Beach and why its owner keeps reinvesting.
A Former Police Chief Turned Business Advocate
Bibby has watched Orange Beach grow for close to 40 years. He came to the city in 1985 as its first chief of police. Since then his civic résumé has grown considerably. At the time of the interview he was secretary of the South Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce board, chairman of the Coastal Alabama Chamber of Commerce, vice chairman of the Gulf United Metro Business Organization (GUMBO), and a member of the executive board of the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance.
He remembers when locals were wary of newcomers. Soon after he arrived, a man at a gas pump asked whether he was a tourist or a local. Bibby said he was local. The man asked whether he had family buried in the cemetery or owned a shrimp boat. When Bibby said no, the man told him he was a tourist after all.
“People were against growth in 1985,” Bibby says. “But it’s here because this is a great place to live. We work hard to give the visitors what they want and make it better every year.”
From Receivership to Revival
The Wharf had a rocky start. Bibby says its original developer had a good idea but arrived too early. The project went into receivership, and a Louisiana businessman, Art Favre, was asked to rescue it. Favre had been coming to Orange Beach to fish for 18 years and loved the area.
The pitch he heard was blunt: if he didn’t buy The Wharf, it could end up like Bama Bayou, a half-finished development across the Intracoastal Waterway that sat neglected for years. (The Wharf has since bought Bama Bayou.) Favre bought the property, and during Spring Break 2012 crews started laying fiber optic cable, restoring power and stringing lights on the palm trees along Main Street.
Today the complex includes a marina, condominiums, a hotel, an event center and an amphitheater, with restaurants, shops and offices along its streets. The Wharf was the first entertainment district in Alabama. Bibby says Favre is still steadily reinvesting. “Mr. Art is always reinvesting to keep The Wharf fresh and exciting,” he says.
Big Concerts and Free Family Entertainment
The amphitheater is The Wharf’s best-known attraction. Bibby says the venue averages about 20 major acts per season. Hank Williams Jr. opened the first season after Favre bought the property. In 2023 The Wharf hosted 19 concerts, and eight of them sold out. The amphitheater has been nominated for the Academy of Country Music’s outdoor venue award in multiple years, and big shows draw about 10,000 people.
Much of the entertainment is free. At the time of the interview it included:
- A nightly Spectra Laser Light Show Experience.
- Fireworks every Monday evening during the summer.
- A seasonal ice rink during Winter at The Wharf, upgraded every year.
- The Ferris wheel, which had recently been refurbished.
- Car shows, boat shows and holiday events through the year.
“We want The Wharf to be a place where everyone can visit, be entertained, and make memories with family and friends,” Lantrip says. Bibby adds that the team has “learned a lot about how ice rinks work,” and that the rink has become a big draw for families.
A Marina Built for Sportfishing
Fishing is central to The Wharf. Bibby says a recent marina upgrade added high-speed fuel pumps, which he calls the fastest on the Gulf Coast. “Where it used to take several hours to refuel a yacht or sport fisher, it now takes about an hour,” he says. The marina hosts several big-game tournaments, and weigh-ins can draw about 5,000 spectators.
Favre, himself an avid sport fisherman, once asked where the next generation of anglers would come from. The Wharf’s answer was Kids Win, an annual family fishing tournament and the only time fishing is allowed from the docks. Children fish with their parents on Friday night and Saturday morning, and awards are handed out around noon.
“Awards are given for the biggest fish, smallest fish, heaviest fish, and so forth. There is an award for everything,” Bibby says. “Families who have never fished in their lives get excited and exposed to fishing. The only rule is fish have to be caught on a hook. It’s all about the experience the family gets to share and everybody wins!”
The tournament benefits Make-A-Wish Alabama. In 2023 it raised $17,500 and sent a local child to Disney World. The news was delivered by an Orange Beach fire truck that drove into Marlin Circle with a sign reading “Your Wish is Granted.” “It’s a big opportunity that our entire community takes part in,” Lantrip says.
An Event Center and Room to Grow
The Wharf built its event center and sold it to the City of Orange Beach. It seats 2,500 people for conferences and youth gatherings and can be set up with tables for about 1,800 guests at Mardi Gras balls and similar events. “It’s a great facility to have adjacent to everything else The Wharf offers. It makes a group event at The Wharf easy,” Bibby says.
Guests can park once and stay for a whole weekend. They can rent a condo, swim in the pool and lazy river, shop, eat, see a concert and visit one of several nightspots, including the upscale 8 Reale speakeasy. Bibby compares the place to a charrette: a cart pushed down a street, collecting ingredients along the way until something good comes out at the end.
According to Wharf figures, about 3.9 million of the roughly 8 million people who visit Gulf Shores and Orange Beach each year come to The Wharf. The development has also committed to giving 25 acres to the city to help with growth. “We want to be good stewards,” Bibby says. “That’s what it’s all about.”
Listening to Visitors
Bibby and Lantrip say they get plenty of questions and suggestions from guests and take them seriously. “Fresh eyes help keep us fresh,” Bibby says. “People who visit see it from a different perspective.” The holidays are one of the property’s busiest times, with photos with Santa, the ice rink and a New Year’s Eve party. The Wharf publishes its seasonal events online and in printed guides at its shops and restaurants.
“We are fortunate to have an owner like Mr. Art Favre who loves this area, and believes we can continue to make it better for everyone,” Bibby says.
A Concert Weekend Without the Car
For concertgoers, the biggest perk may be staying on the property. One group of friends who booked three nights of Memorial Day weekend shows at the amphitheater in 2022 rented a condo overlooking the marina instead of driving in each night. They described the unit as clean and fairly new, with sunset views over boats coming and going.
They found plenty to do during the day. They had lunch at Villaggio Grille and drinks before and after the shows at YoHo Rum & Tacos and at Boat Bar, whose outdoor bar had local bands playing all weekend. The resort pool with its lazy river was a bit of a walk from their building, but a shuttle ran back and forth, and from the water they could hear the afternoon soundcheck. Main Street also has a multiplex movie theater and the Ferris wheel, and late-night options included karaoke and axe throwing.
The best part, the group said, was the five-minute walk from the amphitheater back to their condo balcony after each show. The Wharf markets on-site lodging for exactly this kind of concert trip.