3 Watchtower Properties on the Block

By on August 3, 2011 3:13 pm in Real Estate, Watchtower

Realtor Massey Knakal announced via press release this afternoon that they have been retained to sell 3 properties owned by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in Brooklyn Heights. The buildings are 50 Orange Street, 183 Columbia Heights and 161 Columbia Heights. The three properties combined are being valued at $18.45 million dollars. They’ll be sold separately.

MK Press Release: Located in the heart of Brooklyn Heights on the southeast corner of Orange and Hicks Streets, 50 Orange Street is a five-story elevatored apartment building containing a total of 20 residential units. Of the 20 units, 10 are studios and 10 are one-bedroom units. The building is approximately 15,355 gross square feet including the cellar. In 2006, a renovation of the property was completed including the installation of a new elevator and central heating and air-conditioning system. The property also features views of the Manhattan skyline, harbor, and bridges from the upper floors.
The building will be delivered vacant, which is rare for this size and location, making this property ideal for an institutional level user or an investor as it can be immediately rented at market levels or converted to condominium ownership. The asking price is $7,350,000.

183 Columbia Heights is a seven-story elevatored apartment building which will also be delivered vacant. It is located between Clark and Pierrepoint Streets just steps from the Brooklyn waterfront promenade. The gorgeous residential building has been immaculately maintained and features 10’ ceilings, storage space, a bike room and laundry room. Additionally, the property features stunning unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, harbor, and bridges from the upper floors. The building is approximately 15,158 gross square feet including the cellar and consists of 13 fair
market apartments. The asking price is $7,650,000.

Just a few buildings away is a beautiful five-story townhouse located at 161 Columbia Heights, which consists of seven fair market units, one rent stabilized unit and two rent controlled units. The building is approximately 7,513 gross square feet including the cellar. The property is an excellent candidate for an owner user who wishes to live in a portion of the building while receiving income from the remaining apartments. The asking price is $3,450,000.

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  • AEB

    If I buy all three, will I henceforth and nevermore be proselytized by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society? If so….

  • bklyn20

    Does the sale of these buildings contribute to the BBP deal?

  • Livingston

    If I win the Power Ball lottery tonight, I’ll give Massey Knakal a call.

  • Curmudgeon

    Lovely to see such serious posts on the subject. And so nice to see that you were careful not to let your religious prejudice show.

  • bklyn20

    I seriously do want to know if sales of these buildings will contribute to Brooklyn Bridge Park.

  • epc

    My understanding, and this is before the recent “new deal” so it may have changed, is that only the Watchtower properties kind-of/sort-of contiguous to the park (the old Squibb buildings) are under consideration for the PILOT diversion to support the park. I don’t think that the buildings between DUMBO and Concord Village are included either (or weren’t, I haven’t read the latest deal, which if I understand it correctly, hasn’t actually been turned into something formal yet).

  • Peter

    My understanding of the Park deal as explained in the NYtimes is that only Witness buildings that are re-zoned to residential count towards the deal. As these are already residential, they likely wouldn’t contribute.

  • lori

    Thanks for posting this; always happy to keep up with real estate news. All three have been offered before. How about 161’s next door neighbor – the carriage house. That was on the market several years ago with an aggressive push but did not sell despite several reductions in price.

  • epc

    Correction to my earlier comment: apparently all existing Watchtower properties *could* contribute to the park if/when they are rezoned from manufacturing to residential, regardless of contiguity to the park.

  • Hicks St Guy

    @promenading, about 20 years ago, a group of Witnesses stopped a couple of muggers from jumping my sister. have you done anything for anyone lately? stfu

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    I’m with promenading on this one, God riddance to the Jo-ho’s.

  • EHinBH

    Will be glad for the City to get the tax revenue. But after thinking about it, I’ll miss them… They kept their properties in immaculate condition and many of them were often empty for most of the year.

  • Jim

    such intolerance…wow…shocks me even after moving here 9 years ago from the south…to naively think i was moving to such an open minded city…

  • Andrew Porter

    50 Orange Street is also directly opposite Plymouth Church, and the lush lawn in front of the arcade connecting the actual church with the 1913 administration building/church school. So even if the lower floors don’t have Manhattan views, they’re still desirable. The facade is painted because, during the renovation, it was discovered that the exterior brickwork is too stained and corroded to be exposed. The building does have an excellent cornice.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Jim, there is nothing “open minded” about the Jo ho’s,

  • David on Middagh

    In other news, fighting fire with fire always works!

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    David on Middagh, “Fighting fire with fire” does work. Consider a forest fire when firefighters will often do a controlled burn of an area before the main fire reaches it, thus removing the source of fuel.
    Or extinguishing a burning oil well, where explosives (a very fast fire) are used to knock out the fire?

  • Devoloper Mensh

    161 is a lovely building with income producing tenants
    albeit some on pre WW2 rent control including the garden
    apartment on the ground floor, still I kind of like it for my
    family,everybody has a price to get out,with a smile.