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Update: Brooklyn Heights’ Montague Street Remains Rousing Retail Success Story

By on March 16, 2013 12:05 am in Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Food, Fun, History, News, Real Estate, Shopping, Streets, Tourism, Watchtower

In May 2012, BHB wrote about an appreciable renaissance taking place along the Montague Street retail corridor, during which a dozen new businesses moved in along the avenue over the year preceding. Another snapshot of Brooklyn Heights “Main Street” this week reveals that Montague remains a bustling success story, with restaurants, spas, bodegas, bakeries and [...]

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All-New Bossert Hotel Could Open As Soon As Summer 2013

By on January 17, 2013 9:11 am in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Development, Events, Landmark Preservation, Streets, Watchtower

The Bossert Hotel could begin receiving hotel guests at 98 Montague Street as early as this summer, according to a report from the Architect’s Newpaper—as long as construction remains on schedule. That includes preserving the facade, lobby and reception area, updating the rooms with new design finishes and amenities, and restoring the Marine Roof to [...]

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Board of Standards & Appeals Unanimously Approves Bossert Hotel Conversion

By on January 11, 2013 7:31 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Commercial Real Estate, Watchtower

On Tuesday January 8, the Board of Standards & Appeals unanimously ruled to approve a request for variance to change the Certificate of Occupancy at the Bossert Hotel for transient hotel use, accessory hotel use and commercial use at 98 Montague Street. That means that following its sale last year by the Jehovah’s Witnesses to [...]

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Watchtower Sells 67 Remsen Street For $3.25 Million

By on October 10, 2012 5:43 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate, Watchtower

BHB reported in late July that another property in the Jehovah’s Witnesses real estate portfolio had hit the marketplace: the beautiful five-story, 5,088sf residential brownstone at 67 Remsen Street—which ironically backs up to the organization’s recently sold Bossert Hotel. Brownstoner shares that the Brooklyn Heights building has sold for $3.25M, just a shaving from its [...]

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Sunday Sunset: Bossert Boarders Take In The View

By on September 15, 2012 10:32 am in Brooklyn Heights, Photos, Watchtower

A handful of guests at the Bossert Hotel at 98 Montague Street witnessed one of the best views in Brooklyn Heights last Sunday evening, from the soon-to-be former Watchtower property’s 14th-story “Marine Roof” balcony. Check out the sunset they saw below the jump.

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Residents Of 200 Hicks Street Concerned Bossert Hotel Conversion Will Create Noise, Safety Issues

By on August 10, 2012 10:16 am in Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Development, Environment, Tourism, Traffic, Watchtower

A group of concerned residents who reside at 200 Hicks Street are taking to task the new owners of the Bossert Hotel at 98 Montague Street. Brooklyn Heights rez Elizabeth Bailey and her comrades believe the conversion plan currently before the Bureau of Standard and Appeals could create serious noise, traffic and safety issues in [...]

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Newly Listed: Jehovah’s Witnesses’ 10-Story Residential 67 Remsen Street

By on July 25, 2012 10:47 am in Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate, Watchtower

Another Brooklyn Heights property in the Jehovah’s Witnesses real estate portfolio has hit the marketplace. A five-story, 5,088-square-foot residential building at 67 Remsen Street—ironically, abutting the back of organization’s recently sold Bossert Hotel—is asking $3.4M. It features 10 units, a private garden and will be delivered vacant, according to David Schechtman of marketing firm Eastern [...]

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If The Bossert Indeed Becomes A Hotel Again, Here’s Your Rooftop View

By on June 23, 2012 5:45 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Development, Landmark Preservation, Watchtower

During the Community Board 2 Land Use Committee hearing June 20, the Bossert was approved to return to its status as a hotel (it now goes before the full Board). Among plans that buyer David Bistricer has in mind for the newly “sophisticated and upscale” hotel are a first-class restaurant and intimate dining on the [...]

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Hearing Scheduled Wednesday For Bossert Flip Back To Hotel

By on June 20, 2012 8:45 am in Architecture, Commercial Real Estate, Development, Government, Watchtower

Reminder: A notice has been sent to all residents within 400 square feet of the Bossert Hotel, alerting them to the application filed with the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) to allow reconversion to its “original transient hotel use.” The Bossert at 98 Montague Street is currently zoned outside of such a commercial zone. [...]

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Witnesses Peddling Three Undeveloped Parcels In DUMBO

By on June 5, 2012 4:16 pm in Commercial Real Estate, DUMBO, Watchtower

It appears that Johovah’s Witnesses don’t just own established properties within the boundaries of Brooklyn Heights. Crain’s and The Real Deal report that the religious group has commissioned Cushman & Wakefield to sniff out a buyer for three adjacent undeveloped lots in nearby DUMBO. The parcels, at 173 and 177 Front Street—both vacant—and 200 Water [...]

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Is The Bossert Being Converted Back To The ‘Waldorf Astoria of Brooklyn’?

By on May 8, 2012 11:13 am in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Government, Real Estate, Watchtower

Consider this a potential game-changer for Brooklyn Heights: The magnificent Bossert at 98 Montague Street, owned & maintained by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, is apparently returning to its original domain as a hotel. Brownstoner reported Tuesday that according to a Public Hearing notice sent out by Community Board Two, a variance application has been filed to [...]

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Sold! Watchtower’s Residential 183 Columbia Heights Moves For $6.6M

By on April 24, 2012 10:49 am in Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate, Watchtower

As expected, a fourth Brooklyn Heights residential property on the market by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society has sold. BHB reported in late March that 183 Columbia Heights, then asking $7.1 million, was close to contract after attracting 27 offers, according to the building’s listing agent Massey Knakal Realty Services. The Real Deal reported [...]

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161 Columbia: See Inside First On-The-Market Rental Unit

By on April 19, 2012 1:46 pm in Real Estate, Watchtower

The Watchtower residential property at 161 Columbia Heights that sold March 20 for $3 million and returned to the market 10 days later as a rental is now being marketed by Ideal Properties Group, with the first interior images online for a 1-bedroom unit for $2,895/month. The descriptor: “This spacious 1-bedroom apartment is newly renovated [...]

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10 Days After Closing, 161 Columbia Heights Returns To Market As Rental

By on March 29, 2012 3:33 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Development, Real Estate, Watchtower

The Watchtower residential property at 161 Columbia Heights that closed March 20 after a $3 million sale to investment and management firm Sugar Hill Capital Partners, is back on the market less than two weeks later as a rental. According to Curbed, after a quick renovation, the newly named five-story walk-up “161 Heights” offers

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Sold! Third Of Eight Watchtower Properties In Heights Grabs $3M

By on March 20, 2012 12:12 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate, Watchtower

The third of eight Brooklyn Heights residential properties on the market by the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society has bid “Amen” to owners Jehovah’s Witnesses. A five-story walk-up apartment building at 161 Columbia Heights sold for $3 million to investment and management firm Sugar Hill Capital Partners. The listing was managed by Massey Knakal Realty [...]

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Jehovah’s Witnesses Unload Columbia Heights Carriage House—$3M Under Asking

By on February 14, 2012 2:54 pm in Brooklyn Heights, Real Estate, Watchtower

A second building in the Jehovah’s Witnesses Brooklyn Heights real estate collective has sold for $3 million less than its original asking price. Curbed reports that a 4,172-square-foot carriage house at 165 Columbia Heights Street (between Clark and Pierrepont streets), was asking $7.2 million in 2008, and sold for $4.1 million, according to city records. [...]

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Watchtower Sells Orange Street Building for $7.1 Million

By on January 3, 2012 7:11 pm in Real Estate, Watchtower

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the Jehovah’s Witnesses to its friends, has sold 50 Orange Street for $7.1 million. It and two Columbia Heights properties were put on the block in August:

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Kingdom Come: NYT on Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn Heights

By on November 5, 2011 2:18 pm in Real Estate, Watchtower

The New York Times reports on the Bossert Hotel, currently owned by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The piece discusses how members of the religion, known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, become eligible for a stay in Brooklyn’s “Waldorf”. It also covers the fact that the Watchtower plans to move out of Brooklyn Heights over [...]

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To Serve Man: The Eagle on the Watchtower’s Slow Move Out

By on October 24, 2011 7:36 pm in Watchtower

The Brooklyn Eagle sheds some light on the realities of the Watchtower’s planned move out of Brooklyn Heights to upstate Warwick, N.Y. A spokesperson for the group says the move won’t happen “anytime soon” as they’re still waiting for approval to construct more buildings. One interesting passage closes the piece by Linda Collins regarding the [...]

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Reasons to Get Excited About Watchtower Property Sale

By on October 16, 2011 10:09 am in Real Estate, Watchtower

Crain’s NY Business writes about how our local electeds and others are already licking their chops over the potential buyers, uses and tax revenue resulting from the sale of the Watchtower properties in Brooklyn Heights.

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Brooklyn Paper Ponders Brooklyn Bridge “Park” Plan

By on August 11, 2011 10:26 am in Real Estate, Watchtower

The Brooklyn Paper weighs in on the latest scheme to fund Brooklyn Bridge Park: Brooklyn Paper: The deal calls for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society’s holdings in Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO to be rezoned for residential use — a change that real-estate experts believe will send the value of the Society’s properties well north [...]

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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 [...]

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Park Consultants Submit Final Report on Housing Alternatives

By on June 10, 2011 10:31 am in brooklyn bridge park, Development, News, Real Estate, Watchtower

Bay Area Economics (“BAE”), the consultants hired by the board of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation to study alternatives to housing in the park as sources of funding for park operations and maintenance, have submitted the final version of their report to the board’s Committee on Alternatives to Housing. The full text of the report [...]

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Post: Witness Buildings May Solve Park Funding Problem

By on October 7, 2010 9:54 am in brooklyn bridge park, Watchtower

Existing buildings owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses could, it is suggested, be purchased by the City, converted to luxury condos, and the tax revenue they generate used to help fund Brooklyn Bridge Park maintenance. New York Post: The Jehovah’s Witnesses could answer the prayers of locals fighting to keep more high-rise condos out of Brooklyn [...]

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A Look Inside the Bossert Hotel

By on September 18, 2010 7:29 pm in History, Landmark Preservation, Watchtower

The Bossert Hotel’s lobby is something very rarely seen by Brooklyn Heights residents who are not members of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. In 2008, it was part of the Brooklyn Heights Association’s Annual House Tour but that’s about it. The YouTube video after the jump by Michael R. Huff provides a brief peek [...]

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Watchtower Properties: $1 Billion? Really?

By on July 29, 2010 11:53 am in Real Estate, Watchtower

Brooklyn Heights resident and real estate broker Donald Brennan files this guest post: After reading the ‘Real Deal on Watchtower Properties’ post here last week I got to thinking – a billion dollars, for 25 properties, where did that number come from?  While I am aware of the impeccable condition of these properties, inside and [...]

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Real Deal on Watchtower Properties

By on July 21, 2010 10:52 am in Real Estate, Watchtower

The Real Deal looks at the Watchtower’s Brooklyn Heights real estate holdings and speculates how much the organization could make once it decides to put its remaining properties here on the market: The Real Deal: Over the next decades, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, as it is officially known, bought up some incredibly valuable [...]

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A View From Inside the Watchtower, Continued: Apocalypse Not

By on May 2, 2010 5:18 pm in History, Watchtower

“Orthocath” continues his story of life as a “Bethelite” in 1970s Brooklyn Heights here. In this installment, he tells of the passing of the fateful prediction for 1975, as well as of the acquisition of the Towers Hotel and the digging of a tunnel.

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A View From Inside the Watchtower

By on April 18, 2010 8:16 pm in History, Watchtower

A former Jehovah’s Witness, now a convert to Orthodox Catholicism, recounts his days as a “Bethelite” in the Witnesses’ Brooklyn Heights headquarters, here.

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Watchtower Trick or Tracts in the North Heights

By on October 31, 2009 1:23 pm in Watchtower

Sure the folks over at the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society aka Jehovah’s Witnesses don’t “celebrate” Halloween but they took to the streets of the North Heights this morning to “Trick or Tract”. We’ve discussed the unneighborliness of Watchtower knocking in the Heights before and this morning’s doorbell ringing was no exception.  While it was amusing [...]

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