SomeraRoad’s Hotel Bossert Plan Says a Lot About Brooklyn Development Now

Picture this: It’s Oct. 4, 1955, in Brooklyn. The hometown Brooklyn Dodgers just had their storybook World Series victory, defeating the Yankees in Game 7. Brooklyn is going wild in celebration, and in Brooklyn Heights the Dodgers have taken over the Hotel Bossert at 98 Montague Street.

Champagne is flowing, music is blasting, and some 2,000 fans have gathered outside the building to cheer for their team.

The Dodgers’ party is only a single chapter in the Bossert’s storied history, which took another dramatic turn this fall.

Built in 1909 by lumber magnate Louis Bossert, in an Italian Renaissance revival style — and often referred to as “the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn” — Hotel Bossert operated as a luxurious hotel between 1909 and 1988. It was then acquired by, and used, as the headquarters for the Jehovah’s Witnesses religious group. As a hotel, the Bossert was hosting guests, celebrities, weddings, celebrations and business meetings. It was even a crime scene, when in 1972 a police officer accused of being part of a massive bribery case that was linked to the mafia died by his own hand.

If you can name it, chances are the Bossert has seen it.

“At the time when the hotel was built in 1909, Brooklyn had only just recently become part of New York City,” said Kevin Draper, historian and co-founder of New York Historical Tours. “Brooklyn had only consolidated with New York in 1898, and, when the hotel was being built, there was still a lot of pride in Brooklyn [on its own].”

Hotel Bossert stood out in Brooklyn Heights among the government buildings, museums, restaurants and other infrastructure that were in the area and nearby Downtown Brooklyn, Draper said.

“When it was built, it was basically the Plaza or the Waldorf of Brooklyn,” Draper said. “That’s the reputation it had.”

Designed by Helmle & Huberty, the decorative and architectural elements at the Hotel Bossert were wildly grandiose, drawing on European influences. Those included a diamond-
patterned brick facade and arched window bays with lionhead keystones.

The Bossert in its heyday was the epicenter of high society in Brooklyn. Expanded in 1912 to include a grand ballroom, featuring brass and crystal chandeliers, and 375 rooms — according to Brooklyn-focused blog Brownstoner — Bossert was adorned with an ostentatious lobby, a dining and gathering place called the Palm Room, and a two-story restaurant and club overlooking Manhattan called the Marine Roof, which opened in 1916 and closed in 1949.

In the 1950s, the hotel became the unofficial home of the Brooklyn Dodgers, with players often staying on the property — even living there, according to some reports — and, of course, it is the site of that legendary celebration of the Brooklyn team’s only World Series win. (The franchise would move to L.A. two years later.)

But, as the cliche goes, all good things must come to an end. In the 1960s, an unsuccessful attempt was made to reopen the space, which would eventually fall into deep disrepair. In 1988 — after 79 years in operation — the Boseert stopped being a hotel. It was sold for an undisclosed amount to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which had already been operating out of the building.

Between 1988 and 2012, the Jehovah’s Witnesses used the property as its headquarters. The group eventually sold the property for $81 million to Chetrit Group and Clipper Equity, major players in New York development.

The Hotel Bossert. PHOTO: Courtesy SomeraRoad

The new owners had intended to reopen the Bossert as a hotel — with names like Ian Schrager and Ed Scheetz connected at various points — originally targeting a 2013 debut, but there would be significant delays given how extensive the repairs and restoration needed to be. In 2019, it had appeared that the Bossert was on the cusp of a second life as a hotel. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle even did an interview that year with Chetrit’s Stephen Allen, who was in charge of the hotel relaunch.

“I’m so proud of the restoration work we’ve done to bring the hotel back to its original glory,” Allen told the publication at the time.

But all of the work would be for nothing, as a plethora of troubles — including construction delays, partners dropping out, Chetrit buying out Clipper Equity’s 40 percent stake, never mind the pandemic — would plague the hotel’s relaunch. The idea was scrapped.

In May of 2025, Ian Ross’s SomeraRoad acquired the property for $100 million from lender Beach Point Capital, which took control of the site from Chetrit following a court-ordered fore-
closure in February 2025, as Commercial Observer reported at the time. Now SomeraRoad is ushering in the next chapter in the tale of 98 Montague Street.

Work is underway to turn Brooklyn’s 98 Montague Street into branded condominium residences in partnership with Ritz-Carlton. It will be the first such branded property in Brooklyn.

“The gorgeous historic Italian Renaissance building shouldn’t have been sitting dormant,” Kathleen Urbani, vice president of development at SomeraRoad, said. “We have a great vision for what it could be.”

The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Brooklyn Heights — as the site of the Hotel Bossert will now be known — is in demo mode, and is expected to be completed in 2029. The condo is being developed in a joint venture between hotel operator Marriott International and SomeraRoad. The property will have 62 condos, and the hotel’s original lobby has been restored for its new (ad)venture.

“The only remaining piece of the interior that has been restored and is part of its original design is the lobby,” Urbani said. “We’re not required to keep that, but we are super excited to bring that back to life and restore all of those elements. We’ve discovered that the floor is an original marble mosaic terrazzo floor. That’s very special and unique. We fully expect it to bring back its former glory.”

Urbani said she could not share much more about the demolition, restoration and development of the condo building, or what the amenity program will be, but, if the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Boston are any indication, it’ll be luxurious. That property includes a grand hotel-like lobby, a ninth-floor terrace restaurant, a landscaped “sky park” on the 11th floor, and a fitness center complete with a swimming pool. We also know that there will be a ground-floor restaurant by famed restaurateur Danny Meyer at the 98 Montague Street property — Meyer’s first full-fledged sit-down restaurant in Brooklyn.

“Working alongside an extraordinary team of architects, designers, preservation experts and the team at Marriott International, we are thoughtf

Source: commercialobserver.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.