Navy lease ends for Key West's Mole Pier, future unclear

The Navy’s lease on Key West’s Mole Pier will end Aug. 3, after the Department of the Navy sent the city a termination letter dated May 5 and gave 90 days’ notice. The move leaves the Outer Mole, one of the most important pieces of waterfront property in Monroe County, in a holding pattern while federal officials decide what comes next.

Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Southeast moved quickly to widen the conversation, issuing a Request for Interest on May 6 asking for public input on possible future uses of the pier. Responses are due June 3 at 5 p.m. EDT, and an industry forum and site visit are scheduled for May 20. The Navy says it wants a new long-term lease agreement that would be paid through in-kind consideration rather than cash, but it also says the pier remains first and foremost a Navy asset, with priority use for mission needs and access tied to Naval Air Station Key West security requirements.

That makes the exact future of the Mole Pier the central question. The notice describes a single berth about 800 feet long with a minimum water depth of 36 feet, but also says utilities and access are limited. Any new arrangement will have to balance those physical constraints with the Navy’s operational needs, leaving open whether the pier continues to support cruise docking, stays available for defense-related use, or shifts toward some other mix of waterfront activity. For Key West, where port space is scarce, that uncertainty affects traffic, dock access and long-range planning.

The pier’s history underlines why the decision matters. The Outer Mole began before the Civil War as a wooden dock for Fort Taylor, then was redesigned and extended after World War I as a concrete breakwater for a planned submarine base. The Navy kept ownership when the former Key West Naval Station was sold at public auction in 1986. Today, city port materials list the Navy Mole as one of just three docking facilities in Key West, alongside Mallory Square Dock and privately owned Pier B.

The financial stakes are just as real. City budget documents show that 40% of gross cruise ship fees received from the Outer Mole are transferred from the General Fund under the lease with the Navy, and the city’s Navy Outer Mole Payments Fund is meant to improve the pier as determined by the Navy and the city. If the lease ends without a clear replacement, Key West could lose revenue, cruise operators could lose certainty and waterfront businesses could see their traffic patterns change. If the Navy and city reach a new agreement, the pier could remain a working part of the harbor instead of becoming another unresolved federal property on a crowded island shoreline.