Boston Developer Buys Historic Downtown Nantucket Inns For $10 Million

A Boston real estate development and investment firm dropped $10 million last week to acquire three contiguous properties in downtown Nantucket that include a pair of historic former guesthouses.

Core Investments, located on Boylston Street in Boston, is the new owner of 15 and 17 North Water Street, along with 8 Sea Street. Together, the three properties total .4 acres.

The property at 17 North Water Street includes the former Easton House guesthouse that was built in 1812. Next door at the 15 North Water Street lot is the former Hussey House lodging establishment, which was constructed in 1795.

The three properties had been listed and marketed for sale together with an asking price of $11.9 million.

Core Investments specializes in acquiring and redeveloping urban mixed-use and commercial buildings, according to its website, and is currently developing a new 57,000-square-foot storage facility on Nantucket at 10 and 12 Davkim Lane in the Richmond Great Point development.

David Pogorelc, the CEO and founder of Core Investments, told the Current his company’s plans for the downtown properties are not yet clear.

“No plans at the moment - we just closed,” Pogorelc said. “We’re cleaning up the properties now, doing light repairs. They were inns for a long time so we’re just emptying them out and cleaning it up. I don’t have a plan yet, and we’re analyzing different things to do there. We haven’t solidified anything.”

According to Clay Lancaster’s The Architecture of Historic Nantucket, 15 North Water Street was built in 1795 for Robert Brayton, while 17 North Water Street was built around 1812.

Mary Bergman, the executive director of the Nantucket Preservation Trust, said the structures are both “Typical Nantucket Houses,” the most predominant style of home on Nantucket from 1760 to 1830.

"17 North Water Street was operated as one of Albert Easton’s boarding houses throughout the 1880s.," Bergman said. "Mrs. H. S. Ross ran the Colonial Inn at 17 North Water Street in the years prior to World War I. Her grandson, Cyril Ross, Jr. and family operated the business as the Easton House. The Rosses also operated 15 North Water Street as the Hussey House.

"There are no preservation restrictions on these properties," Bergman added. "But, any change to the exterior of these buildings, like any structure on Nantucket, would have to be approved by the Historic District Commission. I would hope that the age of the buildings - 228 and 211 years, respectively - and their importance to both the early development of Nantucket and the later transformation of the island as a resort destination would inform the HDC to deny any application to demolish or otherwise significantly alter a streetscape that has been in existence for more than 200 years."

According to the William Raveis Nantucket listing, “the collection of properties is comprised of two, well-preserved antique dwellings previously run as lodging/guest houses. The Easton House located at 17 N Water Street was run as a 10-room inn and the Hussey House located at 15 N Water Street was run as a 5-room inn. A third parcel located at 8 Sea Street has a 1950s cottage and a garage with an accessory apartment. An abundance of opportunities awaits a new owner.”