Marcus & Millichap brokers handling the deal didn't disclose Schubert's plans for the property. However, industry insiders speculate The Shubert Archive, an affiliate, may eventually take over the property to expand the storage of over six million documents related to the Shubert brothers and the The Shubert Organization.The buyer of record was Shubert and Booth Theatre LLC. Insiders speculate the deal may have been done at this time because the BJ Wholesale Club building is coming up for a renewal of a 20-year, triple-net unsubordinated ground lease with rent escalations scheduled every five years.
The deal was put together by Philadelphia Marcus & Millichap brokers Mark Taylor, Dean Zang and Christopher Munley. Taylor is a vice president of investments and senior associate. Zang is an associate vice president of investments and director of the firm's National Retail Group. Munley is an investment specialist. 
Dean Zang
All three represented the seller who had listed the property with Zang in February of this year. Shubert was represented by Bayard Street Capital and Real Estate Foundations Inc. Zang says that within four months, his group obtained six offers.The brokers picked Shubert because it was the highest bidder; the BJ store was the group's replacement property in a 1031 Exchange; and the deal was not contingent on financing.
"This asset provided the investor with a rare opportunity to acquire a new big-box, single-tenant, net-lease retail property located only minutes from the New Jersey Shore and a short drive from the Philadelphia and New York metropolitan areas," says Zang.
Taylor says Shubert walked into a good deal because the property has "a strong residual value. Escalating land costs in this area, as well as the difficulty in assembling larger tracts of land, make this parcel very valuable."
Mark Taylor
The property is at Route 72 and Doc Cramer Boulevard in Manahawkin, NJ. Taylor calls the location "a prime regional retail corridor," neighboring a power center anchored by Kohl's, TJ Marxx and Staples. The broker says the seller plans to construct two or more additional buildings on the site in the near future.As a historical note, Broadway entrepreneur Lee Shubert built the Booth Theatre in partnership with movie producer Winthrop Ames. The American premiere of Arnold Bennet's The Great Adventure, inaugurated the Booth on Oct. 16, 1913.
Architect Henry Herts designed the Booth to be one of a pair of playhouses--the Booth and the Shubert. The theatres abut each other along Shubert Alley off 45th Street in New York. The Booth is considered the smaller, less extravagant of the two theatres.
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