When Wildwood's Shamrock Beef & Ale shut down in 2021, the end of the bar's 84-year run was not the final chapter for the upper floors of the Victorian property and former hotel on Pacific Avenue.
The top three floors, painted green and orange, are now part of a 10-bedroom home around the corner that's being advertised as a potential Airbnb "Goliath" in Wildwood. The property, at 214 E. Lincoln Ave., is listed for $974,777.
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"It's pretty amazing to think about the history of what it was," real estate agent Brian Reed said of the property, which has been overhauled on the inside.
The earliest version of the Shamrock — in the 1930s — was located inside the former Berwind Hotel, a notable example of Queen Anne resort architecture in Wildwood. The Shamrock's owners later had those three floors stacked on top of the first-floor bar that became a staple at the Jersey Shore over the ensuing decades.
After New Jersey revoked the Shamrock's liquor license for violating pandemic-era restrictions, owner Tom Gerace sold the bar to Philadelphia-based developer BG Capital. He asked the new owner to help him preserve the top three floors by moving them to the Lincoln Avenue property, where they were placed on top of a new foundation and a large garage. The old Shamrock location has since been redeveloped as condos.
Gerace lived at the renovated property in recent years, but Reed said he and his family have since moved to the Poconos. Reed called the 10-bedroom home — about 1 1/2 blocks from the beach — a unique opportunity for a large family or an investor.
The first floor, above the garage, has three living rooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a half-bathroom and two decks. It also has an in-law suite that could be used as another living room or bedroom. On the next floor are six bedrooms and two full bathrooms, and the third floor has another three bedrooms.
Reed said Wildwood offers more value to owners of short-term rental properties because its offseason is busier than other shore points. He noted cheerleading competitions, wrestling tournaments, dog shows and festivals that bring people in beyond the peak season.
"Those types of offseason events are massive money-makers for Airbnb properties," Reed said. "If I'm an investor — between the size, the extended season and the nostalgia of a place like this, to me it makes a lot of sense."
There aren't many traces of the former bar at the property, save for a "Welcome to the Shamrock" sign, but Reed said the building's history as a hotel and bar makes it a conversation piece in Wildwood. In the first week since the property was listed, he said activity among interested buyers has been brisk and people are stopping to check it out.
"Everyone looks at this house — the green and the orange," Reed said. "People don't think of the Wildwoods as a Victorian town, but almost every street has a house from the 1920s or 30s. You're talking about 100 years of tourists visiting a landmark, so it's got to be pretty amazing to think about the stories of people who have walked through those doors."