Large Swath Of "The Strip" Hits The Market For $35.9 Million

A curious ad appeared in Wednesday's edition of The Wall Street Journal announcing the sale of "rarely available" pieces of real estate on Nantucket's Steamboat Wharf.

The advertisement described two commercial buildings currently housing seven storefronts, including four leased restaurants, that are being put on the market at a whopping $35.9 million. It did not name the businesses or the physical addresses of the properties.

As it turns out, the ad was not a hoax or a scam.

A large swath of The Strip on Broad Street is on the market for the first time in more than four decades.

The properties, located at 4 and 10 Broad Street, currently house some of the island's most popular and recognizable businesses, including Island Coffee, the Nantucket Bike Shop, Steamboat Pizza, Walter's sandwich shop, and Scooters. 

The owners of the two parcels are Billy and Kay Cameron, according to property records. The Camerons have owned 4 Broad Street since 1979, when they purchased it for $148,000. They acquired 10 Broad Street in 1986 for $500,000. The couple lives year-round on West Chester Street.

The two properties are among the most iconic on Nantucket and among the first commercial businesses to greet locals and visitors as they arrive on the island via the Steamship Authority.

Tom Joyce, a Boston-based attorney, realtor, and friend of the Camerons, is representing them during the sale process. He said the asking price of $35.9 million includes the Nantucket Bike Shop business, which the Camerons have run for years and hope will continue under new ownership after the sale of the two properties. The couple does not have any children, Joyce said, and they have reached an age when they want to explore moving on from the commercial ventures on The Strip.

"Bill's 81, and I wouldn't dare ask how old Kay is, but she works like a dog down there, oh my god," Joyce said. "They would love to see the (bike shop) business continue. That's the business they know. They've done it for so many years, and they know it fits so well."

Joyce said the leases for the existing businesses on The Strip are year-to-year and currently run through the end of 2026.

As for the steep $35.9 million asking price?

"I think just looking at the other properties around, there's been properties for sale on Straight Wharf, but I don't think there's any comparison," he said. "(These properties) you get right off the ferry. This is what you see when you come to Nantucket, if you come by ferry. So, I think the street traffic is great. Everything about there is perfect. It's got seven storefronts...

"The (Nantucket) Bike Shop business is probably worth a quarter of the whole sale, whatever the sale ends up being," Joyce added. "And as far as the price is concerned, I think it's whatever the market will bear. So you put it up, and is it open for negotiation? Of course, it is. It's always up for negotiation. So, where do you start? Yeah, we started there, and let's see where it goes."

Joyce and the Camerons did not list the properties with any of the local Nantucket real estate offices, and they were not posted to LINK Nantucket, the multiple listing service used by the Nantucket Association of Real Estate Brokers. Instead, they chose to take out the ad in The Wall Street Journal and another that will run in today's edition of USA Today, Joyce said. He is also distributing a brochure with information about the properties to prospective buyers.

"We got some pretty good leads," he said. "Got three or four that seem to be interested, that have asked for information. I'm going to give more information and a profit/loss and that sort of thing once they sign a confidentiality agreement. But of course, then again, it hasn't been too many hours. Let's see where it goes."

Four Broad Street is currently assessed by the town at $4.76 million, while 10 Broad Street is assessed at $4.1 million.