Bossert Hotel

So hot is Brooklyn’s real estate market that Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer came all the way from across the East River to headline the program at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s quarterly real estate luncheon today. “I came to Brooklyn on behalf of the outer boroughs,” he quipped in his introductory remarks.

However, the draw for many real estate professionals wasn’t Stringer, but David Bistricer. The developer recently purchased the former Bossert Hotel and has been busy transforming it back to a hotel. It had served as a community facility for the Jehovah’s Witnesses since the 1980s. [more]

From left: City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (credit Jonathan Fickies); Jed Walentas, vice president of Two Trees Management, (credit Jonathan Fickies); and a rendering of the hotel at 80 Wythe Avenue

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gave the keynote address at the Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable’s fifth anniversary luncheon today, but Jed Walentas, vice president at Two Trees, stole the show.

The casually dressed 30-something, son of pioneering Dumbo developer David Walentas, entertained the crowd of some 100 real estate professionals with updates on Two Trees’ projects, punctuated with candid one- liners that drew laughs from the audience.

For example, Walentas said he decided to undertake Two Trees’ new Williamsburg hotel project “to have a new experience and do something fun.”

He added: “To be honest, I have no idea how the economics are going to work out.”
… [more]