Jehovah’s Witnesses choose a buyer for DUMBO development site 69 Adams St.

October 31, 2016 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Jehovah's Witnesses are selling 69 Adams St., the building in this image with a tennis court on its roof; the deal is expected to close before the end of the year. Images courtesy of Jehovah's Witnesses

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Hallelujah, brother!

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have made a deal to sell a prime piece of DUMBO real estate.

The property is 69 Adams St., a 157,410-square-foot development site that’s situated alongside the Manhattan Bridge.

The site is currently occupied by a four-story recreational facility with a tennis court on its roof and a parking garage with 84 spaces.

“We have selected a buyer and expect to close on the property before the end of the year,” Watchtower spokesman Richard Devine told the Brooklyn Eagle via email.

“To respect their privacy, we are not identifying who the buyer is or the purchase price at this time,” he added.

A luxury residential tower with commercial space, storefronts and a community facility can be built as-of-right on the property, according to marketing material that the Watchtower had posted online. The site, which is located outside the DUMBO Historic District, has 103 feet of frontage on Front Street.

The religious organization had purchased 69 Adams St. from LI Machine & Pattern Works Inc. in 1991, city Finance Department records indicate.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses put it up for sale this past spring as part of their liquidation of their DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights property portfolio because of the relocation of their world headquarters to upstate Warwick, NY.

The Watchtower, which officially opened the Warwick headquarters on Sept. 1, had been a presence in Brooklyn Heights for a century.

Now its former Brooklyn Heights headquarters complex at 25-30 Columbia Heights belongs to a company headed by Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

The Kushner Cos., in a joint venture with CIM Group and LIVWRK, purchased it for $340 million.

Just last week, the religious group took another step forward in its sale process by putting 97 Columbia Heights, a Brooklyn Heights Historic District residential tower that stands on the site of the former Hotel Margaret, onto the market.

Other DUMBO Watchtower development sites

The Jehovah’s Witnesses have reportedly also lined up a buyer for another DUMBO development site, namely the parking lot at 85 Jay St., which has almost 1 million square feet of development rights.

The New York Post has reported that the Kushner Cos., together with investment partners, are the buyers of the massive site — and that this deal is expected to close at the end of this year.

And the Watchtower has a third DUMBO development site, namely 74 Adams St., where a vehicle-maintenance facility now stands. The religious organization is offering it for sale.

According to the Watchtower’s marketing website about 74 Adams St., luxury residential development is allowed at the 144,913-square-foot site, and the new building can also have commercial and retail space and a community facility if desired.