The Real Deal reports that an investment group led by two prominent Manhattan property owners and developers, Jared Kushner and Aby Rosen, are said to have agreed to purchase the Watchtower headquarters complex at 25-30 Columbia Heights, along with a site on Jay Street in DUMBO that has substantial development rights, for $700 million. No word is given on the prospective purchasers’ plans for the headquarters complex. The same group previously purchased another large complex of buildings on Sands Street from the Witnesses, which they converted into “Dumbo Heights”, office space housing Etsy and other on-line and tech oriented companies.
In February we noted that several Manhattan based office developers had expressed interest in the headquarters buildings; the ones mentioned at the time did not include Kushner or Rosen. Aby Rosen is the owner of some of Manhattan’s most prestigious office buildings, including the Park Avenue neighbors Lever House and the Seagram Building. He is an avid collector of contemporary art, much of which adorns his buildings. Kushner owns office buildings, including 666 Fifth Avenue, as well as many residential properties. He is married to Ivanka Trump and, according to his Wiki, he has served his father-in-law’s campaign as an “emissary to the Jewish community.”
BHB reader Andrew Porter left this comment on the Real Deal story:
As a north Heights resident, I welcome this purchase. The buyers have already shown, through their redevelopment of the properties they’ve purchased and are turning into Dumbo Heights, that exciting days are ahead for these buildings.
The question is, of course, what will happen to 119 and 124 Columbia Heights and all the other JW properties still on the market or still to come, for example the mammoth Towers Hotel, which fronts on Clark, Willow and Pineapple Streets.
Photo: Joe Mabel, Wikimedia Commons.
