Watchtower Organization Sells Bossert Hotel for 100 Million Dollars

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Bklyn's once famous Bossert sells for $100M
May 05. 2008 3:43PMBy: Kira Bindrim

Brooklyn Heights’ famed Bossert Hotel, on the auction block since January, has reportedly snagged a buyer. Robert Levine, the same developer behind One Brooklyn Bridge Park, has reportedly made a deal to buy the Bossert for upwards of $100 million, according to real estate blog Brownstoner. That answers questions of whether a softening real estate market might keep the famed building from commanding a price tag over $100 million. The 224-unit building at 98 Montague Street has 20,000 square feet of space. With some renovation, the Bossert could make up to $1,000 per square foot, according to Brownstoner. The Bossert was one of seven major Brooklyn Heights properties put on the market by The Watchtower Group in January. The organization did not provide an asking price, but gave a “request for best offer” to interested parties. The Bossert has been making headlines for years—but most recently has had a more humble role as the newest stop on the Brooklyn Heights Association’s neighborhood tour. In 1955, the Brooklyn Dodgers celebrated their lone World Series win there, and author Francis Morrone called the building the “Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn” in his An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn. The space was once famous for its Marine Roof, a two-level rooftop restaurant with a nautical theme and impressive view of lower Manhattan. In 1983 the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York began leasing the space, and bought it outright in 1988. Watchtower, a Jehovah’s witness organization, undertook a massive renovation and restoration of the building to comply with Landmarks Preservation Commission standards for the historic district. Since then, the Jehovah’s witnesses have transferred their printing and shipping operations to a new location and consolidated Brooklyn operations, leaving diminished need for the residential space.