McCourt sells last two valuable waterfront sites

Former Boston businessman Frank H. McCourt Jr. has sold the last valuable pieces of his South Boston Waterfront land, two restaurant buildings on the water's edge, for a little more than $4 million.

The buyer of the properties, housing Eastern Pier II and the Seaport Bar & Grille and located next to Anthony's Pier 4, is Jon Cronin, a South Boston restaurateur, owner of the Boston Beer Garden and the Playwright Bar & Cafe, both on East Broadway.

McCourt, who now owns the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and has moved to Southern California, retains only a "sliver" of land from the 24 Boston acres he once owned, according to a spokeswoman.

For years, McCourt planned to develop the property, mostly used for parking cars, into a mixed-use neighborhood. One McCourt plan would even have moved Fenway Park to the waterfront. But he sold the bulk of the land to Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. earlier this year as part of his acquisition of the Dodgers.

The two restaurants, on about 10,000 square feet of land with decks over the water, are likely to be redeveloped into luxury condos with restaurants, Cronin said in a recent telephone interview from Dublin, where he was on a honeymoon trip.

"The waterfront is the next big area in Boston," said Cronin, owner of Cronin Development Corp. "It seemed like a great fit for us."

Cronin said the restaurants yield a sufficient cash flow for the present, and he plans to work with an architect on how to improve the space, between Anthony's and the World Trade Center .

Vivien Li, executive director of the Boston Harbor Association, said redeveloping the site won't be easy because of regulations governing building on waterfront land.

Cronin also recently opened the club Sanctuary, on State Street, and is a developer of residential housing. The Playwright is being completely renovated.

Yesterday David Trang, owner of Eastern Pier II, said he has about five years to go on a 10-year lease. The small Chinese restaurant, open since 1997, has a deck for outdoor summertime dining.

Ed Phillips, owner of the Seaport Bar & Grille, said he hasn't met Cronin . His lease expires next year, and he hopes for a few more years at the small but picturesque location, popular with tour boat clients and people attending events at the Bank of America Pavilion. The Seaport has a second-floor outdoor deck and adjacent space that is part of the Harborwalk, accessible to the public.

At the Seaport yesterday, five patrons ignored the sparkling view of Boston Harbor, Anthony's Pier 4, and the soon-to-open Institute of Contemporary Art, in favor of two large televisions over the bar showing the Bruins playing the Carolina Hurricanes.

In September, News Corp. sold the bulk of the former McCourt property, about 23 acres, to developer John B. Hynes III and financial firm Morgan Stanley for $203.7 million. And in March, McCourt and his wife, Jamie, gave land along Fort Point Channel to the Boston Children's Museum for use as a park.

The McCourts are trying to unload one more big property in Massachusetts -- their 13,000-square-foot home on 3 acres in Brookline, which was offered for sale two years ago for $22 million.

The current asking price: $15.7 million.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com.