BOSTON-A group of investors from Winchester, including a former Big Dig contractor, has paid nearly $12 million for the Boston Yacht Haven at the end of Commercial Wharf. The group may turn a portion of that property into condos.

MGM Commercial Wharf, an investment group that includes Yvette Markey Mumford, a former Big Dig subcontractor and the former sister-in-law of Congressmen Edward Markey, purchased the waterfront property from Modern Continental Marine Corp., an affiliate of the Big Dig construction firm that built the property five years ago. Set at the end of Commercial Wharf in Boston's North End, the property is comprised of a public marina with 75 boat slips big enough to accommodate yachts a large as 250-feet, along with a building housing a first-floor meeting area that is rented for private functions and second-floor crew quarters.

Vivian Li, director of the Boston Harbor Association, tells GlobeSt.com. a representative from MGM Commercial Wharf recently indicated to her that the investment group is "exploring the possibility" of turning the property into four waterfront condominiums that will sell for between $3 million and $4 million. Michael Vaughn, an attorney representing the investment group, however, says no decision has yet been made on the fate of the marina.

Li says if MGM Commercial plans to privatize that waterfront parcel it may have a fight on its hands. " If you allow the building to be turned into condos, it tends to privatize the waterfront. I think [MGM Commercial] understands there would be some major concerns."

Originally built about five years ago to accommodate luxury yachts, Boston Yacht Haven is considered an accessory, water dependent use. That designation bars it from being used for residential purposes and any change to that use would require the owners to undertake a complicated regulatory process that would require obtaining an amendment to the harbor plan, Li says.