The Real Deal reports that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are putting another of their Brooklyn Heights properties up for sale: the nine story, presently 161 unit residential building at 107 Columbia Heights, which sits at the southeast corner of Columbia Heights and Cranberry Street. The piece quotes Tucker Reed, of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, as estimating that the building could fetch around $154 million. BHB reader Andrew Porter posted this comment on the Real Deal story:

Really ugly modernist building with non-traditional window arrangement. The best thing going for it is the lovely garden and fountain entrance on the Columbia Heights side, which is the actual entrance.

Photo by moi for BHB.

The New York Daily News offers its take on the burgeoning growth taking place in Brooklyn Heights’ adjoining neighborhood, titled “What’s behind Downtown Brooklyn success story?” It concludes that an influx of college kids at 11 area schools, trendy stores, novel restaurants and tech start-ups “taking advantage of short-term leases” have fueled an economic boom “in once-gritty spots.”

The piece alludes to strong growth “over the last 10 years, according to local firms and economic experts,” with a quote from Brooklyn Heights’ Ingram & Hebron Realty partner Robert Hebron: “There’s gigantic momentum to create professional gentrification” that has led to intense local competition for new tenants. He adds that in an effort to convince startups with low capital to move from chic DUMBO lofts into more traditional downtown offices, landlords have been asking for lower security deposits and are dropping other standard lease requirements.

The News adds that Downtown Brooklyn is one of the only spots in NYC where no private sector jobs have been lost since 2003, with major growth in the health care sector. Overall, Downtown Brooklyn’s office vacancy rate improved to 7.4% in 1Q 2012, down from 11% last year, citing a report issued July 26 by state Controller Thomas DiNapoli. It also says that the surrounding nabes—Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO/Vinegar Hill, the Navy Yard, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill—have grown in population by 15,000 since 2005.

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership President Tucker Reed calls the area “the hottest neighborhood in the borough, and the fastest-growing and strongest economy of any downtown in the state and the nation.” James Parrot of the Fiscal Policy Institute adds, “Downtown Brooklyn is benefitting from a number of broader trends; it’s part of an urban revitalization story.”

Read the article in the New York Daily News here.

(Photo: Chuck Taylor)

The 15th-annual meeting of the Montague Street District Management Assn., part of the Montague Street Business Improvement District, will convene Thursday June 14, 4-6 p.m., on the second floor of Eamonn Doran’s at 174 Montague Street.

Addressing the group will be keynoter Seth Pinsky, President of the NYC Economic Development Corp., and guest speaker Tucker Reed, President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.

To vote and actively participate in BID-related matters, members must register here. The Montague Street District Management Assn. comprises commercial property owners, commercial tenants, residential renters and/or owners and all interested non-voting interested Board members and attendees.

At the meeting, members will vote to elect Directors and on revised by-laws and policies. Members may request electronic copies of information at info@MontagueBID.com or by calling 718-522-3649. For more information on the organization, contact Executive Director Brigit Pinnell at bpinnell@MontagueBID.com.