The ‘Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn' finally has a future — after years of failed renovation attempts
The Hotel Bossert, a former luxury hotel in Brooklyn Heights, has been acquired by real estate firm SomeraRoad for $100 million — and it's going residential.
The Italian Renaissance Revival-style building is an icon of Montague Street.
The locally beloved landmark, where the Brooklyn Dodgers celebrated their only World Series championship in 1955, languished through more than a decade of stop-start renovations before it was recently snapped up by SomeraRoad, the Brooklyn Eagle reported.
6 The Hotel Bossert sits on the corner of Montague and Hicks streets.
Dylan Wilson
6 The hotel in its heyday housed several Brooklyn Dodgers and happening parties in its top-floor bar.
Getty Images
The years of false starts and pesky scaffolding began after the former hotel's 2012 purchase by developers Joseph Chetrit and David Bistricer for $81 million.
The previous owners planned to reopen the relic as a boutique hotel with 302 rooms, according to the Eagle.
Their renovation efforts repeatedly stalled, however. Chetrit bought out Bistricer in 2019, the Real Deal reported. The saga ended earlier this year with $177 million of debt and a foreclosure auction.
Beach Point Capital acquired the decaying hotel from the Chetrit Group at auction for $999,000. SomeraRoad purchased the property from Beach Point Capital, with the latter providing a $71 million mortgage, according to the Real Deal.
The 14-story Hotel Bossert was constructed as an apartment hotel in 1909 by lumber magnate Louis Bossert. Its nautical-themed Marine Roof Supper Club was the toast of the town in its mid-20th century heyday, known for unbeatable Manhattan views and live music.
6 The hotel entrance in 1958.
Getty Images
6 The hotel was known as the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn.
Getty Images
6 The hotel lobby, pictured in 2008.
Dylan Wilson
The Jehovah's Witnesses took over the building in 1983, and their restoration efforts on the building were widely praised, Curbed reported. The group sold the building to Bossert and Chetrit in 2012 amid a massive property selloff when they left Brooklyn for upstate New York.
A 2019 New York Magazine story chronicled the experiences of the former hotel's five remaining rent-stabilized residents still living in the near-vacant building.
Now, the grand 116-year-old hotel plans to welcome residents in one of Brooklyn's most in-demand areas.
6 Brooklyn Heights' hot real estate market makes the hotel's residential future especially enticing.
Google Earth
The Hotel Bossert's new owners, SomeraRoad, boast a track record of adaptive reuse projects — the firm gained attention for its successful restoration of the former India House building at One Hanover Square in 2023. Its founder, Ian Ross, is a Brooklyn resident.
'SomeraRoad plans to honor the property's rich history and restore and reopen the building as residences,' the company wrote in a statement.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNBC
3 hours ago
- CNBC
European markets set to start the week lower as Middle East crisis worsens
London at dawn. Dukas | Universal Images Group | Getty Images Good morning from London, and welcome to CNBC's live blog covering European financial markets and the latest regional and global business news, data and earnings. Futures data from IG suggests a choppy start for European markets, with London's FTSE looking set to open 0.3% lower at 8,747, Germany's DAX down 0.4% 23,222, France's CAC 40 0.5% lower at 7,536 and Italy's FTSE MIB 0.6% lower. Global market sentiment could plummet further this week after the United States entered Israel's war against Iran over the weekend, launching strikes against three nuclear sites in Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz. The move by U.S. President Donald Trump surprised investors because he had said last Friday that he would make a decision to attack Iran "within the next two weeks," according to the White House. The latest attacks caused oil prices to rise further and have stoked fears of a wider conflict in the Middle East. Asia-Pacific markets declined overnight, while U.S. stock futures fell ahead of Monday's session. — Holly Ellyatt Global markets will be on edge, given the escalation in the Middle East over the weekend, as a further spike in oil prices could be on the cards. In Europe, flash purchasing managers' index data, showing business activity in the services and manufacturing sectors, is due Monday morning. There are no other major earnings or data releases. — Holly Ellyatt
CNBC
8 hours ago
- CNBC
Asia-Pacific markets set to open lower as U.S. bombing of Iran escalates Middle East crisis
Peter Adams | Stone | Getty Images Asia-Pacific markets are set to plunge Monday, after the United States' attack on three nuclear sites in Iran raised oil prices and investors' fears of an escalation in the Middle East conflict. Oil prices have spiked in recent weeks following the increased tensions in the Middle East. Brent Crude was trading at $78.88 per barrel after surging 2.48%, as of 7.30 a.m. Singapore time, while the West Texas Intermediate crude added 2.48% to $75.65. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was set to open lower, with the futures contract in Chicago at 38,310, while its counterpart in Osaka last traded at 38,370, against the index's Friday close of 39,403.23. Futures for Hong Kong's Hang Seng index stood at 23,396, pointing to a weaker open compared to the HSI's last close of 23,530.48. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is also slated to open lower, with futures tied to the benchmark at 8,469, compared to its last close of 8,505.50. U.S. equity futures fell in early Asia hours following the U.S. strikes in Iran. Futures tied to the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 109 points, or 0.3%. S&P 500 futures shed 0.3% and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.4%. Two of the three key benchmarks on Wall Street fell last Friday as investors kept watch on the Middle East conflict while contemplating the Federal Reserve's plans for interest rate cuts. The S&P 500 declined 0.22% to end at 5,967.84, making it the broad-based index's third consecutive losing session. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.51% and settled at 19,447.41, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ticked up 35.16 points, or 0.08%, closing at 42,206.82. — CNBC's Lisa Kailan Han, Sean Conlon, Brian Evans contributed to this report.
New York Post
9 hours ago
- New York Post
With border now secure, US needs to boost legal immigration to strengthen economy, workforce, study finds
President Trump and Congress should approve new laws to boost legal immigration to strengthen the US economy and workforce in the coming decades now that the border is secure, a new study said. 'Immigrants are likely to be more valuable than ever in achieving higher economic growth over the next several decades,' according to analysis by the right-leaning group Unleash Prosperity. The report recommends increasing the overall quota for annual immigration entries and expanding visas for high-tech foreign workers via the H-1B visa program. 6 President Trump and Congress should approve new laws to boost legal immigration to strengthen the US economy and workforce, according to the study. Christopher Sadowski It also calls for expanding visas that allow companies to hire foreigners for seasonal work. 'Due to profound demographic changes in the United States, expanding visas for programs ranging from high-tech H-1B workers, to seasonal H-2B workers, to EB-5 investor immigrants, combined with an increase in the overall quota for annual immigrant entries will benefit the U.S. economy,' the study insisted. Doing so will counter the demographic cycle of fewer young Americans entering the workforce and more Baby Boomers retiring and exiting the workforce. 6 The study calls for expanding visas that allow companies to hire foreigners for seasonal work. AFP via Getty Images The study, co-authored by Richard Vedder, Matthew Denhart and Stephen Moore, comes as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration by tightening enforcement at the southern border and detaining and deporting illegal immigrants. Unleashed Prosperity was co-founded by Moore, an economic adviser who helped craft President Trump's and the GOP's 'Tax Cuts and Jobs Act' of 2017, which expires at year's end. Other co-founders include Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media and former Republican candidate for president; economist Arthur Laffer and free market analyst Phil Kerpen. 6 The study comes as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on illegal immigration by tightening enforcement at the southern border. Getty Images It has received funding from heavy hitters, including Fred Smith, the founder of FedEx, who died over the weekend at age 80, the company said. Moore praised the Trump administration's actions that have ended massive border jumping and illegal immigration, making it timely to talk about expanding legal immigration. 'The reason why we did the study is the border is secure. There's a right way and a wrong way to do immigration. Americans will be supportive of doing it the right way,' he said Sunday. 6 Moore praised the Trump administration's actions that have ended massive border jumping and illegal immigration. AFP via Getty Images The report cited data justifying the need to significantly raise legal immigration quotas: Immigrants of working age are more likely to be employed than native-born Americans — 65% compared to 60%. Immigrants account for half the growth of the workforce over the past decade, and more are of prime working age than American-born residents. Nearly half of all Fortune 500 companies in America were founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants. Three of the 'Magnificent Seven' American tech companies were born in other nations: Elon Musk of Tesla, X and SpaceX was born in South Africa; Sundar Pichai, born in India, is the CEO of Alphabet (Google); and NVIDIA leader Jensen Huang came from Taiwan. Over the 20-year period 2020-2040, all of the net growth of the American labor force will be attributable to immigrant workers. 6 Immigrants of working age are more likely to be employed than native-born Americans — 65% compared to 60%. Post. 'Over the past decade, immigrants have filled nearly 40% of the new jobs in America. It would be hard to argue this has displaced Americans from jobs, because the unemployment rate has remained relatively low,' the authors said. Since 1994, the proportion of foreign-born workers in the labor force nearly doubled, to 18.6% in 2023. In recent decades, the US has had higher economic growth rates than Western Europe and Canada, the report said. 6 Since 1994, the proportion of foreign-born workers in the labor force nearly doubled, to 18.6% in 2023. Getty Images 'The extraordinary increase in productive resources — disproportionately immigrants — has given the United States a competitive edge,' the report said. The report notes the declining birth rate in the US. Women averaged giving birth to more than three children in the 1960s, now they average fewer than two. That's not enough to maintain the population absent more international migration, the report said. 'Modern-day America was founded and settled by immigrants. They turned a largely uninhabited and poor land into a thriving large nation of unprecedented wealth and accomplishment. Our nation's ability to absorb immigrants historically has proven rapid and unique among nations,' the report said. The Trump administration's goal to grow the economy by 3% a year over the next decade will be difficult to achieve without an ample influx of immigrants to compensate for an aging American-born population, the authors said.
