by Linda Collins ([email protected]), published online 09-10-2008
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The sale by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of the Bossert Hotel in Brooklyn Heights is imminent, according to TheRealDeal.
The publication reported yesterday that Robert Levine, president and CEO of RAL Companies & Affiliates is expected to buy the 14-story building for $92 million and turn it into student housing.
“It’s pretty much a done deal,” Levine reportedly told The Real Deal.
Levine, reached yesterday afternoon, forwarded his statement to the Eagle by e-mail as follows:
“Hotel Bossert, which we expect to close on by the end of the month, would be a welcome addition to our portfolio of beautiful landmark buildings. Our plan would be to renovate the building’s interior, turning it into student housing, while retaining the building’s landmark exterior and the Bossert name.”
Also reached late yesterday, Richard Devine, a spokesperson for Watchtower, said that no closing had taken place and the closing was not imminent, thus, in the organization’s view, there was no sale. Similar rumors had circulated earlier this summer but were denied by both Watchtower and Levine at that time.
The Eagle initially reported in January that the historic building was on the market and, as has been its custom in the sale of other properties, the Watchtower attached no asking price and sought bids and a private transaction.
The offering came as no surprise to many. As the Eagle has been reporting over the past several years, the religious organization has transferred its printing and shipping operations to Wallkill, N.Y., and has consolidated its operations in Brooklyn, resulting in a decrease in the number of staff members and need for residential space.
The Bossert, at 98 Montague St., corner of Hicks Street, has been used as a residential building for the organization’s headquarters staff since it was acquired in 1988, so the majority of the 224 units are described as “spacious one-bedroom apartments, along with studios.” There are also a few single rooms without kitchens for temporary guests and short-term volunteers, Devine told the Eagle.
“The building, as originally conceived by Louis Bossert [built in 1909], was as a residential hotel, so it has always been a combination transient and residential hotel,” he said.
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