Iconic Nantucket Commercial Strip Listed for $35.9M—for the First Time in 4 Decades

The idyllic beach community of Nantucket, MA, is buzzing about two commercial properties on "The Strip" on Broad Street going up for sale for the first time in more than 40 years.

The two properties, 4 Broad Street and 10 Broad Street, are being sold as a pair—listed for $35.9 million.

The buildings on Nantucket's Steamboat Wharf currently house seven storefronts, including the Nantucket Bike Shop, Island Coffee, and popular restaurants Steamboat Pizza, Walter's Deli, and Scooters.

The 4 Broad Street property is a three-story building with approximately 6,800 square feet, and 10 Broad Street is a two-story building with approximately 3,600 square feet, including four parking spaces.

The sellers are Billy and Kay Cameron, who live year-round on Nantucket.

The listing agent for the properties is Tom Joyce, a Boston-based attorney and real estate agent. He's been a friend of the Camerons for 40 years.

"Bill and Kay Cameron live in a beautiful home on Nantucket year-round, and plan to live there for the rest of their lives," Joyce tells Realtor.com®. "Bill is 81 years old. Kay is younger, but she works 50 to 60 hours a week during the summer. They've worked hard. It's time for them to transition."

The Camerons purchased 4 Broad Street in 1979 for $148,000, and purchased 10 Broad Street in 1986 for $500,000, according to the Nantucket Current.

The parcels were promoted in an unconventional manner, with the owners placing classified ads in The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

"The newspaper ads worked out very well so far," says Joyce. "There has been a lot of interest, a lot of NDAs signed, and a lot of people seriously looking at it."

Location, location, location

The buildings are situated on one of the best locations on the island, with tons of foot traffic.

"This is on the Steamboat Wharf at the entrance of Nantucket where the ferries come in," Joyce explains. "Anyone who is not traveling by air or private boat enters the island this way."

Joyce says the sale includes the Nantucket Bike Shop, which the Camerons currently run. "It's an ongoing business that's seasonal and has done very well over the years," he says. "If they had children, I'm sure they would pass it all on to their children, but they don't."

Joyce explained that the current businesses on The Strip operate under year-to-year leases that extend through the end of 2026.

Local reactions

Nantucket has 14,255 to 20,300 full-time residents, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and local studies. In summer, that number swells to 65,000 to 100,000, according to The New York Times.

Some Nantucket locals have strong feelings about the possible sale.

Tyler Sutton on Facebook wrote, "Oh man, that’s gonna be a change we weren’t prepared for. Only reason The Strip hasn’t changed for our community in all these years is because the owner of those buildings made a conscious and considerate choice."

Nantucket-based journalist Marianne Stanton wrote on Substack, "Reading the news that Bill and Kay Cameron have put their Steamboat Wharf property on the market made me prematurely nostalgic for the fast-food businesses on 'The Strip' that will surely be lost if the Camerons are successful in getting their asking price of $35-million plus for the properties.

"An asking price of $35-million for those properties means that, as popular as the Strip is, there will probably not be enough return on investment from selling coffee, pizza, sandwiches, and bike rentals to keep those businesses around. Unless some philanthropic entity who doesn’t care about ROI steps forward."

But Stanton adds, "The Camerons have been at it a long time and certainly deserve the benefits of retirement and a chance to step back and enjoy life."