The Shubert Organization, one of the biggest landlords on Broadway, has used the proceeds from the sale of the air rights above its landmarked theaters to buy out-of-state bank branches and fast food chains.
In the past seven years, the Shubert Organization has made roughly $50 million from the sale of development rights above its 17 theaters, according to Deadline. Last May, the Shuberts sold the rights above the Majestic Theatre for $17.1 million to Algin Management, the developers of a new residential building at the former location of the Roseland Ballroom.
The purchases are possible due to a quirk in the federal tax code, Deadline reported.
The organization owns a Chase Bank branch and a Bank of America branch in Illinois, as well as banks in Massachusetts and Maryland. Shubert also owns a McDonald’s and a Kentucky Fried Chicken in Atlanta.
Shubert also made some purchases in town last year. In 2014, the organization paid $2.6 million for off-Broadway theater complex New World Stages and and $11.3 million for a warehouse building at 48th Street and Eleventh Avenue. [Deadline via Capital NY] — Claire Moses