A Bahamian investment company has acquired a 90 percent interest in two parcels for $10 million on Commercial Wharf in Boston’s North End, where it’s signaled an interest in a “complex redevelopment plan” including the nearby Joe’s American Bar & Grill restaurant site.
Founded by 80-year-old British businessman Joseph Lewis, whose net worth is pegged by Fortune at $5.7 billion, Tavistock Group owns hundreds of companies and properties globally, including the Premiere League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur. Lewis’s 250-foot yacht, the Aviva, was spotted docked at the neighboring Boston Yacht Haven marina in 2013, according to a North End Waterfront report.
Tavistock Group acquired two properties at 88-89 and 90-91 Commercial Wharf East on Nov. 8. The parcels totaling 15,834 square feet contain a pair of mixed-use buildings.
Atlantic Waterfront LLC, a company affiliated with Tavistock Managing Director Jefferson Voss, paid $5.6 million in 2011 for a 9,109-square-foot parcel at 100-104 Atlantic Ave., which contains the Joe’s American Bar & Grill restaurant.
Tavistock’s website states the company has a “complex redevelopment plan” in store, including redevelopment of the existing restaurant and new public spaces and walkways connecting to the Commercial Wharf Pier and Christopher Columbus Park. No plans have been submitted yet to the Boston Planning and Development Agency. The redevelopment plan is in the early stages, Tavistock said today.
“We have an incredible opportunity to elevate the experience at this restaurant location, the Commercial Wharf pier and the historic Christopher Columbus Park,” Tavistock Restaurant Collection Chairman Charles B. Lewis said in a statement.
Commercial Wharf also includes the separately owned 100-slip Boston Yacht Haven Inn & Marina property, acquired by Newburyport developers Charles and Ann Lagasse in 2007. The Lagasses renovated the inn’s guest rooms and added 30 slips capable of accommodating mega-yachts up to 225 feet, according to published reports.
This article has been updated to include a statement from Tavistock.
