There is a new plan for the old Bert’s site.
The spot – finally demolished last year after years as a dilapidated wreck – has been leased by a Plymouth businessman who has big plans to turn the waterfront lot into a tent-style venue with a variety of offerings.
Scott Hokanson, chair of the Plymouth Area Chamber of Commerce and founder of Brabo Benefits, said he leased the site for a five-figure, non-refundable lease advance, plus a monthly rent to include a percentage of the revenue from the venue. He declined to provide details of the finances.
Hokanson said he is planning an open house at the Public Library’s main branch, on South Street, Wednesday, April 1, from 5 to 7 p.m., to hear from the public what they would like to see at the site.
His plan for the site is to have a third of it saved for parking, a third to be covered by a 40-by-60-foot tent, and the last third to have two food trucks, an alcohol truck, and portable bathrooms.
Among the possible offerings, Hokanson cited yoga classes, a wedding venue, a Boston whaler to bring food out to Browns Bank, drones to fly food out to the Point on Plymouth Beach, paddle board and kayak rentals, local boats delivering lobster, and a catered long table whose proceeds would be shared with charities.
He said he wants to host a holiday festival.
“It’s a perfect use for the spot, but there’s a lot of steps that I have to go through,” Hokinson said. “But I really do think this is going to work and this is going to be something awesome.”
His first task would be to get the site level and cover it with a permeable ground, which he anticipates will cost him $100,000, including permits and legal fees.
Hokanson does not have a deal for the adjacent town parking lot, although he points out that people would be free to park there.
He plans to use the project to offer jobs to students at MAP Academy Charter School.
He must still secure approval from the town’s Department of Inspectional Services and the Planning Board.
“We’re excited that Scott is interested in trying to do some community–oriented activities there,” said Steve Bolotin, chair of the Planning Board. Bolotin said the bathrooms are one possible hurdle, as Hokanson does not want permanent bathrooms, but state law forbids the use of temporary bathrooms in a year-round facility.
“So, we’re trying to find the happy medium as it were between the two,” Bolotin said. “We want to get to yes because this is a site that has a lot of interest to the community, and after years of being a blight it sure would be wonderful to see something positive there.”
Hokanson served for nine months on the Planning Board in 2022 and 2023, and ran for state representative in 2024 and came in fourth in the Democratic primary won by Michelle Badger.
His company, Brabo Benefits, is an insurance brokerage, payroll, employee benefits, and human resources consulting company with offices in Cordage Park.
The beachfront location has nearly 100 years of history as a restaurant. Albert “Bert” Boutin of Plymouth bought the land in 1930 and opened Bert’s Lobster Shack. He ran it for 30 years, with success leading to construction of a larger full-service restaurant and lounge on the site, simply called Bert’s.
The building was heavily damaged in the Blizzard of ’78, but repairs were made and it remained open until 1990, when the company that owned it at the time filed for bankruptcy and the bank foreclosed on the property.
In 2024, the owners of the site on Warren Avenue shopped a conceptual plan to town officials for a new four-story mixed-use building, with a restaurant, lounge, outdoor decks, and other uses at the waterfront property. Nothing came of the plan.
The building was last year after years of controversy about what many thought was an eyesore on the waterfront.
The building had been vacant for nearly 13 years. It’s razing began more than four months after the town ordered the eyesore torn down with the understanding its owners – the heirs of George Demeter, a Boston real estate developer and banker who bought it in 1994 – had 60 days to clear the blighted site.
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org.