Former Blackstone Tap owner re-buys bar after drug scandal
Photo | Grant Welker
The Blackstone Tap was located at 81 Water St. Owner Jefferson Mararian hopes to open a new business under a new name.
The former owner of the Blackstone Tap building in Worcester now owns the sports bar again after the restaurateur to whom he sold the spot in 2016 for $420,000 was forced to give up the property after being sentenced for drug and money laundering crimes.
Jefferson Mararian, a Northborough businessman who had owned the 81 Water St. property since 2004, was essentially given the property by the U.S. government to satisfy debts owed to him by convicted drug launderer Kevin Perry.
Mararian said via email he hopes to renovate the building to open a new business under a new name.
According to U.S. District Court filings, Mararian in 2016 agreed to sell the business to Perry via a $200,000 promissory note and a mortgage recorded in the Worcester County Registry of Deeds to secure Perry’s payments. Perry paid another $420,000 for the property, land records show.
Perry made timely payments on the agreement until November 2017. Now, he owes more than $171,000.
However, the restaurant was seized by the U.S. government after Perry was charged with drug and money laundering crimes and sentenced to 14 years in prison in May.
On Aug. 31, the government agreed to release the property and assets of the restaurant to Mararian for $9,000 provided that he pick up the Bay State Savings Bank mortgage granted to Perry in 2016.
Mararian told WBJ he envisions a new concept for the spot, but did not provide details.
“While I renovate I am also open to other ideas for the space that could fit nicely into the neighborhood,” he said. “Besides that I look forward to being back on Water Street and part of all the great things going on in the Canal District and the City of Worcester.”
Perry also owned The Usual at 166 Shrewsbury St. in Worcester. That property was seized by the government and is in the process of being sold.
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