Yacht Haven Grande is seeking to evict the bar and restaurant St. Thomas Social over nearly two hundred thousand dollars in unpaid rent and other fees, according to a lawsuit filed in V.I. Superior Court this week.
According to the civil complaint, Yacht Haven Grande entered into a five-year lease beginning in December 2022, requiring the bar and restaurant to pay base rent and percentage rent calculated from gross receipts on a monthly basis. The complaint states that the restaurant failed to pay those as well as interest, late fees and utilities costs totaling $198,272.29.
The restaurant received a notice of default on March 4, according to the complaint, and a notice to quit the lease on April 2, which directed Defendant to vacate the Demised Premises within thirty … days or by May 2, 2025.”
Yacht Haven Grande asked the court to evict St. Thomas Social and order that it pay all related costs.
Almost immediately after news of the lawsuit began circulating online, the restaurant’s social media account began posting that the parties’ payment dispute had been resolved in April and that the lawsuit was filed in error.
“There is a fake news story circulating about an ‘eviction’ of St. Thomas Social,” according to the restaurant’s statement. “We have a 10 year lease with a 10 year option. Any disputes between the landlord (IGY/YHG) were resolved over a month ago, and any issues cured. We are proud of our relationship with Yacht Haven Grande and its leadership, and this reporting is an unfortunate publishing an old dispute [sic] that has been resolved. We look forward to continuing our service to the Virgin Islands community, and our employment of 36 local Virgin Islanders. We ask you to join us for $2 Taco Tuesdays, which starts this Tuesday (June 2nd), as advertised TODAY by Yacht Haven Grande.”
Asked by the Source to share any correspondence between Yacht Haven Grande and St. Thomas Social demonstrating that the dispute had been settled, the restaurant sent what appeared to be a screenshot of an email sent by co-owner Brett “Mac” McClafferty on May 2 saying: “So that’s 40k paid in the past 30 days. Will have another $10k to you by next Friday to reach the $50k partial cure marker we set.”
“It was cured,” the restaurant’s account user, who later identified themself as McClafferty, added in response to the Source. “This will be dismissed next week. Guaranteed.”
McClafferty again noted that — earlier Friday — the Shops at Yacht Haven Grande social media account shared St. Thomas Social’s “Taco Tuesday” promotion and asked whether they’d be promoting the business “if we were in an adversarial position.”
“Don’t be a fool like these other clowns. Just stand by for next week. I’ll make sure you’re the first to get the dismissal order,” he said, adding later that “any unethical reporting puts 36 local jobs at risk.”
The restaurant, its parent company Social Hospitality Group and McClafferty — principal of Mac Private Equity and MPE Clearings and Holdings — are the subject of numerous other lawsuits, including several accusing McClafferty of running a “Ponzi scheme” during which he “repeatedly provided false financial information, such as altered screenshots of account balance, and altered or fictious [sic] emails and wire transfer information.”
Mac Private Equity filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in Delaware Bankruptcy Court in March. On Friday evening, McClafferty sent what appeared to be a letter from the attorney representing the U.S. trustee of Mac Private Equity’s Estate — George Miller — to Yacht Haven Grande’s attorneys regarding the eviction lawsuit.
“This location is the subject of a Complaint filed by you in the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands for which you are seeking eviction of St. Thomas Social, and I note that a hearing is scheduled for June 12, 2025,” according to the letter purporting to be from attorney Albert Ciardi III. “Due to the alleged possession of the books and records of the Debtor that are property of the Estate on the premises of St. Thomas Social, please be advised that no action may be taken as to said property of the Estate being moved, destroyed, or otherwise altered, without relief from the stay or permission of Mr. Miller….”
McClafferty told the Source that no action could be taken against St. Thomas Social without permission from the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, “period.”
Asked if the letter meant books and records from Mac Private Equity, which bills itself as “an American off-shore fund” providing “cutting-edge private equity in paradise,” were stored at the waterfront cocktail bar and restaurant, McClafferty referred all further questions to his attorney.
“Write at your own risk.”