The developer of a luxury Seaport condo building, on the site of the famed Whiskey Priest dive bar, has decided to turn control of the property over to the lender with "no recovery of investor equity" according to a Final Project Update dated July 2025.
“We are proceeding with a consensual transition of control to Cottonwood [the lender]”, the investor update reads.
The report blames early construction delays, the Covid-19 pandemic and the 2022 interest rate environment, including the collapse of First Republic Bank, as factors in the failure.
“The pandemic triggered a flight from urban luxury housing, weakening presales and significantly slowing absorption in our target buyer segment”
“We deeply share your disappointment and remain committed to transparency”
In the fall of 2023 the St Regis placed ten units up for bid but “minimum bid pricing was set as much as 30 percent below previously announced asking prices.”
Cronin also faced a commission dispute with the real estate brokerage Gibson Sotheby’s, the case was settled in early 2024. Gibson had been the project’s broker since 2018.
Calls to the Cronin Group went unanswered, there is no voicemail on the main phone number and the 250 Northern Avenue google map listing for the Cronin Group, which is the address listed on the company’s website, is listed as “permanently closed”
The tricky wharf-like location proved to be a complicating factor: “a failed support-of-excavation design led to 8-9 months of delays.”
According to the Cronin Development website “We create value for our local community and investors through our extensive knowledge of the development process, which enables us to pursue complex opportunities, often overlooked by other developers.”
By the end of the year the developer intends to negotiate a deed-in-leiu of foreclosure with lender Cottonwood that would include an additional $6M cash infusion from Jon Cronin, the lead investor and prior owner of the Wiskey Priest at 150 Seaport Boulevard.
The commercial real estate market is tanking. It's a global problem. See: Evergrande in China.