Shuttered Treasure Island yacht club sells to California investor
The new owner took out a $4.8 million mortgage.

By Rebecca Liebson
Tampa Bay Times
Published: Jan 10, 2024

A former yacht and tennis club turned event space that shut its doors in August now has a new owner.

California-based Tavaco Properties acquired the Club at Treasure Island last week and plans to re-open it, Sam Tavakoli, a partner at the company, told the Tampa Bay Times.

The club’s previous owner, Bill Edwards, took over the property in 2009 and turned it into an event space after the Treasure Island Yacht and Tennis Club filed for bankruptcy. Thirteen years later, the local business mogul ended up filing for bankruptcy on the club himself. After plans to build condos at the site fell through, Edwards shuttered the club, telling the Tampa Bay Times he was “tired of losing money.”

In September, an LLC connected to Bank OZK bought the property for $15.1 million, according to Pinellas County property records. Tavaco then acquired that LLC, taking over the club along with it.

That same LLC took out a $4.8 million mortgage loan last week, according to records filed with the Pinellas County Clerk of Court.

Tavakoli said they hope to lease out the club to a number of different operators, each running a different aspect of the business from the pool to the tennis courts to the events space.

“We want the best in each category,” he said.