Crain’s: The first of several properties in Brooklyn Heights that were recently put on the market by the Jehovah’s Witnesses has been sold. The price paid was $7.1 million, slightly under its asking price, according to Massey Knakal Realty Services, the brokerage that was retained to sell three of the Witnesses’ buildings valued at a total of $18.45 million in the neighborhood.
The five-story, 20-unit elevator building at 50 Orange St. was sold in an all cash deal, said Robert Knakal, chairman of the brokerage. The sale closed on Dec. 13. The Jehovah Witnesses’ business arm, the nonprofit Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, bought the property for an undisclosed sum in 1988 and used it as a residence for the members of its religious order. Last year, the group, which is thinking about moving its headquarters upstate, decided to sell the property along with seven other buildings, ranging from a carriage house to a seven-story apartment building.
The new owner of 50 Orange St. was not disclosed. A spokesman for Jehovah’s Witnesses confirmed the sale, but referred further comment to Mr. Knakal.

The Brooklyn Heights Association’s executive director Judy Stanton cautions that Watchtower property sales may cause a major issue in the area. “Right now, we don’t have the schools capacity to support an influx of residents with children,” she says.

But most interestingly is this passage about some “regular” folk who still live there:

NYT: The group took over the building in a state of disrepair in 1983, renovated it in 1988, and in summer 2010, turned it into a 224-room hotel. Five residents who lived there before 1983 remain in their apartments, Mr. Devine said.

“We’re just extras,” said one of them, Monica Grier, 83, laughing.

Ms. Grier, originally from England, moved into the two-bedroom apartment on the 11th floor with her husband, George, in 1956. She is grateful for the infusion of polite activity, recalling the female screams she heard when part of the building was a seedy single-room occupancy hotel. Until last summer, the hallways were mostly silent except during the Witnesses’ special events.

When her husband died in 1988, she decided to stay. She first paid $300 in rent; now she pays $800. She said staff members treated her well and had not tried to proselytize to her.

Daisy Diamontopulos, 80, who has lived on the 10th floor since 1965, said the same. “I am a Roman Catholic and that doesn’t bother them,” she said. “I put my Christmas decorations on the wall. They come to my home, they invite us to theirs.”

Both she and Ms. Grier hope they will be able to stay through whatever incarnation is next for the Bossert.

One interesting passage closes the piece by Linda Collins regarding the group’s involvement in their rural community:

Brooklyn Eagle: The organization is also known for helping its surrounding neighborhood, which included building a park in Brooklyn.

The Times Herald-Record reported that in the Ulster County town of Shawangunk, where the Witnesses have property in the hamlet of Wallkill, they helped the town demolish and rebuild its town hall.

The organization has its printing facilities in Wallkill as well as a farm.

“We do beef farming for the table and also fruits and vegetables that grow well up there,” Devine said.

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.

Crain’s NY Business: “There is great potential here to transform the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn borough president.
Even with the sale likely a few years away, he and others are dreaming big about what could be. For the city, the sales could return the holdings of the largest landlord in Brooklyn Heights and vicinity—the nonprofit Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the Witnesses’ business arm—to the city’s tax rolls. The move could net City Hall millions of dollars a year in revenue.
Meanwhile, backers of the nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park have already tentatively factored the sale of some of the Witnesses’ properties into the park’s long-range funding plans, and developers are eyeing the possibility of vast amounts of new housing and office space. The Witnesses themselves offer some other suggestions.
“These would be good for universities or a senior-housing operator,” said Richard Devine, a spokesman for the Witnesses, referring to half a dozen buildings linked by brightly lit, spotless tunnels that the Witnesses dug over the last 35 years.

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 of $1 billion.

“If they put them on the market now, they’ll be sold very quickly,” said Downtown real-estate broker Chris Havens.

The deal between Mayor Bloomberg and state officials will reduce the amount of luxury condos inside Brooklyn Bridge Park by capturing property taxes from the Watchtower properties after they are sold. The money will be diverted from the city general fund to pay for maintaining the world-class park at the foot of two wealthy neighborhoods — and that has green advocates seeing red.

Brooklyn Heights realtor Donald Brennan pondered the worth of the Watchtower portfolio in a BHB guest post last summer.

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.

Based on its study, BAE concluded that the annual revenue to be anticipated from the alternative sources, taking into account risk factors, ranges from $2,421,000 on the most conservative assumptions to $6,951,000 on the most optimistic ones. (See page iii of the Report; these amounts are the same as in BAE’s draft report–see here.) The largest part of this ($1 million on a conservative basis; $4 million on an optimistic view) would come from creation of a Park Improvement District, which would levy a fee on properties (both business and residential) located near the park. Creation of such a District would require approval of a majority of the affected property owners. No revenues were anticipated from conversion of the Watchtower properties because of uncertainty concerning Watchtower’s willingness to pay for expedited land use review, which was the one source of revenue (apart from a potential one-time payment in consideration for redesign of the hotel planned for the Pier 1 upland so as to improve the view from apartments in the Watchtower complex) that was considered to meet the requirements of the MOU. Proposals to allow PILOTs, or similar levies, on the Watchtower properties were dismissed as violating the terms of the MOU. (See pages vii-viii.)

The projected revenues from the alternative sources, even on the most optimistic assumptions, would be far less than the anticipated annual operational and maintenance expenses of $16 million (see page 11). Therefore, if the conclusions of the BAE study are accepted, alternative sources can at best be expected to reduce somewhat the scale of housing needed to supply revenues for the park.

The Committee on Alternatives to Housing will meet this coming Tuesday, June 14, at 2:00 p.m., on the first floor of the Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Heights Branch, 280 Cadman Plaza West, to consider whether to submit BAE’s report to the full board. The public is invited to attend, but no comments from the public will be entertained. Public comments were received for a period following submission of the draft report in February until April 23 (see here).

New York Post: The Jehovah’s Witnesses could answer the prayers of locals fighting to keep more high-rise condos out of Brooklyn Bridge Park.

During a closed-door session at Borough Hall yesterday, some civic leaders and elected officials discussed having the city revise the waterfront park’s project plan to include dozens of DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights properties that the religious group has put up for sale.

The Post article credits Heights resident Tony Manheim with “leading this charge” to utilize revenues from the Witness buildings in lieu of those from newly built residential buildings within the Park itself.

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 inside its historic lobby.

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 out, my initial reaction was – that’s crazy!  Isn’t it?  Maybe not.

In order to get a feel for what the estimated billion dollar price tag relates to in a more tangible metric I set out to determine the price per square foot for the portfolio.  I broke the properties down into three general categories – non-residential, residential and residential development – determined the approximate size of each property and derived a dollar per square foot value for each category based on recent comparable market transactions and the Watchtower’s own transaction record of previously owned properties.  The blended per square foot price works out to $260, which sounds low, doesn’t it?  So while we are in the middle of one of the biggest deleveraging cycles ever, the $1 Billion estimate may be understated.

So if market conditions do improve the portfolio may be worth more than a billion dollars.  And if there isn’t any improvement, well then they are still sitting on $1,000,000,000 of prime Brooklyn real estate.  Not the worst thing.

Brooklyn Heights resident and broker Donald Brennan hosts informal real estate discussions at his  home on the third Tuesday of each month. The next session is August17. Visit his website to RSVP and  for more information.

The Real Deal: Over the next decades, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, as it is officially known, bought up some incredibly valuable real estate as its operation expanded. Today, the organization’s portfolio totals 25 Brooklyn properties — brownstones, Beaux Arts multifamilies, modern high-rises and parking lots — that are said to be worth at least $1 billion.

But the Heights’ largest landlord may soon be its biggest property seller. Continuing a trend that started in 2004, when the Witnesses sold a warehouse that became the condo One Brooklyn Bridge Park, the group has been steadily downsizing in order to relocate upstate.

Indeed, the Witnesses have built a new printing plant in Wallkill in upstate New York, and an educational center across the river in Patterson. It’s also planning an $11.5 million facility in Warwick. If that proposal gets a green light and market conditions improve, a slew of properties in Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn and Dumbo could soon change hands.

A nice spread detailing the properties after the jump:

44-45

“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.

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 to hear a woman on the intercom who sounded like Cloris Leachman in Young Frankenstein it was still an unnecessary violation of my personal space.   So, Watchtower folks we’re sorry you’re bummed the world is ending soon but next time just Tweet us your “good news”.

R.A.L. Companies & Affiliates is expected to buy the former Hotel Bossert at 98 Montague Street for $92 million and turn it into student housing, according to Robert Levine, president and CEO of R.A.L. Companies & Affiliates.
“It’s pretty much a done deal,” he said, adding that he expects to close on the sale by the end of the month.

The hotel, once known as the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn, will now suffer the same fate as its cousin, the St. George.

Robert Levine made this amusing statement about the deal:

“It is truly a beautiful landmark building,” Levine said. He said his company intends to renovate the interior of the 140,000-square-foot building and turn it into student housing. R.A.L. would then sell or lease the building to a university.

I’m trying to picture the Waldorf-Astoria draped in purple and white. Seriously, can you see this lobby as a dorm hall?

Brownstoner is reporting that The Watchtower Group has agreed to sell the Bossert Hotel [98 Montague Street] to Robert A. Levine, the developer behind condos at One Brooklyn Bridge Park. A tipster tells the site that the selling price is “north of $100 million”. Representatives for the developer would not comment on the sale to Brownstoner.

Update: Brownstoner is reporting the sale price now as $90 million and that the Bossert may be used for student housing “at least” in the short term.

The lobby of the Bossert will be part of this Saturday’s Brooklyn Heights Association House Tour.

Flickr photo by Josh Derr