Jehovah’s Witnesses Sells Historic Brooklyn Asset

By Corina Stef

21 Clark St., New York City

Jehovah’s Witnesses continues its local disposition plan by selling The Towers, an iconic residential building located in Brooklyn. The buyer was Florida-based Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors (KAREA), which plans to transform the asset into the borough’s first luxury living complex with more than 75,000 square feet of premier amenity space for seniors in Brooklyn and Manhattan. The community will be renamed The Watermark and be operated by Watermark Retirement Communities.

“This acquisition will enable KAREA to create value by delivering seniors housing to this incredibly supply-constrained market,” KAREA Managing Partner & CEO Al Rabil said in a prepared statement.

The 16-story, 310,000-square-foot property currently encompasses 295 residential units, lobby, commercial kitchen, large dining areas, offices, community facility space, library and a 20,000-square-foot rooftop terrace. It also boasts views of the New York Harbor, Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge.

Rich history

Located at 21 Clark St., in the borough’s Brooklyn Heights Historic District neighborhood, The Towers was completed in 1928. The asset was formerly known as the Grand Leverich Towers Hotel and used to house the Brooklyn Dodgers during homestands. A few years later, it was rebranded as the Towers Hotel due to the four towers that crown the structure. For a long time, it was named “the aristocrat of Brooklyn Heights,” until it fell into a state of disrepair in the 1970s.

According to public records, the property previously traded in 1975 for almost $2 million and has since undergone multiple extensive renovations.

KAREA has been expanding its senior housing portfolio, recently acquiring Sentio Healthcare Properties Inc., a REIT with senior housing and medical office assets.

Image via Google Maps