Tonkin building back on market
Sale falls through just before closing
BY MARY LANCASTER
The historic Tonkin building at the corner of Main and Federal streets has returned to the market after the anticipated closing on a $5.4 million sale fell through.

The bulding on the corner of main and Federal streets was under agreement for $5.4 million.

Robert Tonkin, who has sold English and French antiques at the brick location for 30 years, moved his inventory out of town to Teasdale Circle warehouses, also for sale, after a purchase and sales agreement was signed by Stephen and Jason Meister and Dalton and J. Pepper Frazier II, partners in the J. Pepper Frazier Real Estate firm.

The group planned to relocate their business to the 33 Main St. building, but decided against the action, said Jason Meister. Frenchy Doucette, the Maury People broker who was handling the transaction, said the partners forfeited a $275,000 deposit because the decision not to buy was made so close to the closing date.

"We were ready to move forward, but as a business decision, after looking at our numbers we had a better opportunity to move to another location on the island," said Meister. "The Pepper Frazier company does own some other commercial properties on island, but we're not sure what that location will be."

The four-story building, including a basement level, was built after the Great Fire of 1846 and once housed Nantucket's headquarters of the Grand Army of the Republic upstairs and Coffin's pharmacy at street level run from about 1907 until 1950 by Reuben G. Coffin and Arthur C. Fish, who sold it to Walter Knott, Clifford Stiles and Mary Mendonca. They opened The Corner Drugstore, but sold the building to Eleanor Royal in 1954 who had a dress shop at the location until passing the building along to Clinton Murray in 1958.

The downtown Tonkin building is now empty. Robert Tonkin was enthusiastic about the sale because he and his wife want to move to the mainland and scale down their antiques business.

I