The Bossert, at one time called the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn, was built in 1909. It was one of several luxury hotels in Brooklyn Heights, including the Towers, the St. George and others. During the 1920s and ’30s, its “Marine Roof” was a popular night spot, and big bands broadcast regularly from the venue.
During the 1950s, several members of the Brooklyn Dodgers lived at the Bossert when the team was in town. In 1955, the Dodgers celebrated their only World Series win in the hotel lobby as thousands of fans gathered outside.
After the Heights declined in prestige, at least temporarily, for several decades, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, also known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, bought the building in 1988. By that time, the Marine Roof had collapsed, the lobby was in poor condition, and more than 2,500 square feet of marble had to be replaced.
The Watchtower used the building to house out-of-town visitors to its headquarters in the North Heights and members of the group who worked there. The Bossert’s restoration was highly praised, and won a Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy in 1991 and a Special Award for Architectural Excellence from the Brooklyn Heights Association in 1993.
In 2013, Joseph Chetrit and David Bistricer bought the building and promised to restore it to its former glory, adding 78 guest rooms, a restaurant and a new rooftop bar. Not content with the Watchtower’s restoration, the new group started one of their own.
In 2019, Chetrit bought out Bistricer’s interest and secured a $112 million loan from Cantor Commercial Real Estate Lending. An article by Lore Croghan in the Eagle that year showed pictures of the restored lobby and proclaimed that the hotel’s reopening was imminent; it never happened.
During the COVID epidemic, Chetrit defaulted on the loan, the Eagle later reported. Wells Fargo, which held the loan, initiated a foreclosure in May, saying Chetrit owed more than $126 million.
Last year, the Eagle reported, hoteliers Ian Schrager and Ed Scheetz planned to possibly partner with Chetrit to save the hotel from foreclosure. The group intended to reopen the hotel as part of Schrager’s Public Hotel chain and refinancing it afterward. That didn’t happen, either.
As far as the current plans are concerned, Beach Point Capital did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the Real Deal said.
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