A civil suit to evict the bar and restaurant St. Thomas Social from Yacht Haven Grande over some $200,000 in unpaid rent and fees has been dismissed, according to court records.
Yacht Haven USVI, LLC attorney Matthew J. Duensing filed the one-page notice of voluntary dismissal, without prejudice, in V.I. Superior Court Tuesday.
The dismissal ends a monthslong saga that played out on social media after news of the lawsuit began circulating online, with St. Thomas Social co-owner Brett “Mac” McClafferty calling it a “fake news story” while promoting the restaurant’s $2 Taco Tuesdays and telling naysayers that the complaint would be dismissed imminently.
According to the suit, 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 utility costs totaling $198,272.29.
The restaurant received a notice of default on March 4 and a notice to quit the lease on April 2, which directed it to vacate the premises by May 2, according to the complaint.
Yacht Haven Grande had asked the court to evict St. Thomas Social and order that it pay all related costs.
When contacted by the Source late last month, McClafferty said, “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.”
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. The company bills itself as “an American off-shore fund” providing “cutting-edge private equity in paradise.”
