Hotel Bossert deal imminent

R.A.L. Companies & Affiliates is expected to buy the former Hotel Bossert at 98 Montague Street for $92 million and turn it into student housing, according to Robert Levine, president and CEO of R.A.L. Companies & Affiliates.

“It’s pretty much a done deal,” he said, adding that he expects to close on the sale by the end of the month.

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The historic 14-story, 224-unit building, once referred to as “the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn” is owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Levine said the society has been using it as a hotel for visiting dignitaries. In its heyday, the Brooklyn Heights hotel played host to the Dodger’s only World Series victory party in 1955 before the team moved to Los Angeles. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, the corporation that undertakes real estate operations for Jehovah’s Witnesses, opened up bidding for the building early this year.

“It is truly a beautiful landmark building,” Levine said. He said his company intends to renovate the interior of the 140,000-square-foot building and turn it into student housing. R.A.L. would then sell or lease the building to a university. Levine assured that his company will retain the Bossert part of the hotel’s name.