Here’s What Trump’s Son-in-Law Jared Kushner Owns in Brooklyn

[Guest Kurt]

While president-elect Donald Trump doesn’t currently have business dealings in Brooklyn, his son-in-law does.

Ivanka Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, is on Trump’s transition team and is the head of Kushner Companies. The real estate firm owns a number of prominent Brooklyn properties. They were acquired recently, many from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, who have moved upstate and are selling off their sizable Brooklyn holdings.

Here are a few details on Kushner’s dealings in the Brooklyn real estate world.

The five interconnected buildings of Dumbo Heights in Dumbo. Photo via Dumbo Heights

Dumbo Heights
Address: 117 Adams Street, 77 Sands Street, 55 Prospect Street, 81 Prospect Street, 175 Pearl Street
Nabe: Dumbo
Cost: $375 million
What: Offices

The sale of these five buildings, formerly owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, to Kushner and his partners RFR Holding and LIVWRK was the biggest deal in New York City commercial real estate in 2013, totaling $375 million. Located just north of the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo, the five industrial buildings were updated to attract tech and media focused tenants. There’s almost 1 million square feet spread across the five buildings, which are connected by sky bridges. WeWork opened in the complex in 2015 and was followed by Etsy, restaurantsand others, helping to transform this former industrial space into a lively area of shops and offices.

184 Kent Avenue. Photograph by Cory Seamer for Brooklynrelics.com

Austin Nichols House
Address: 184 Kent Avenue
Nabe: Williamsburg
Cost: $275 million
What: Condos

Kushner and partners LIVWRK and the Rockpoint Group acquired luxury rental building 184 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg in 2015. One of the “earliest concrete warehouses designed by a prominent architect,” according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the building was constructed in 1915 by Cass Gilbert, designer of the Woolworth Building, and housed Austin, Nichols & Co., distributors of Wild Turkey. Kushner and partners are converting the 338-unit building to condos.

18 Sidney Place. Photo by Hannah Frishberg

Brooklyn Law School buildings
Address: 18 Sidney Place, 89 Hicks Street, 144 Willow Street, 100 Pierrepont Street, 27 Monroe Place, 38 Monroe Place
Nabe: Brooklyn Heights
Cost: $36.5 million
What: Apartments and townhouses

Kushner’s company acquired six dorms from Brooklyn Law School in 2014. Three of the buildings were made into market rate rentals (with 69 units in all), and the other three were gutted and converted back into townhouses.

25-30 Columbia Heights. Photo by Barbara Eldredge

Jehovah’s Witnesses headquarters
Address: 25-30 Columbia Heights
Nabe: Brooklyn Heights
Cost: $340 million
What: Offices

Originally part of the Squibb pharmaceutical complex, 25-30 Columbia Heights became Jehovah’s Witnesses headquarters in the late 1960s. Commonly known as the Watchtower Building, it had a bright neon sign that could be seen across the river. Kushner and partners LIVWRK and CIM Group were in talks to buy the property in the spring, and closed on 25-30 Columbia Heights this August for $340 million. Kusher has not said what he plans to do with the 733,000-square-foot property, but sources say it will be offices, according to The Real Deal.

Development site at 85 Jay Street in Dumbo. Photo by Barbara Eldredge

85 Jay Street
Address: 85 Jay Street
Nabe: Dumbo
Cost: In contract
What: Empty lot

One of the biggest empty lots on the market in Brooklyn, 85 Jay Street’s redevelopment will completely reshape the neighborhood around it. Another Jehovah’s Witnesses property, the group originally planned to put four buildings on the spot, but never did. They reportedly struck a deal with Kushner, developer Aby Rosen and LIVWRK earlier this year, but the sale has yet to close.

175-225 3rd Street. Photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark

175 3rd Street
Address: 175-225 3rd Street
Nabe: Gowanus
Cost: $34.36 million
What: Offices

Kushner and LIVWRK bought this property right across the street from Brooklyn’s first Whole Foods for $34,360,000 in 2014, according to city records. They hope to rezone it for a commercial mixed-use development of nearly 1,000,000 square feet, up from the 300,000 square feet the property now allows, according to reports.

The supertall tower planned for 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn. Rendering by SHoP

Brooklyn’s first supertall
Address: 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension
Nabe: Downtown Brooklyn
Cost: $43.5 million
What: Apartments

Kushner is a lender for 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension, which is slated to become the first supertall skyscraper in Brooklyn. Developers JDS and Chetrit bought 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension for $43.5 million in 2014, then scooped up the adjacent Dime Savings Bank at 9 Dekalb Avenue and its 300,000 square feet of air rights for $90 million in late 2015. The planned skyscraper, which will reach 1,066 feet, got the go ahead from the Landmarks Preservation Commission in April. Kushner is a mezzanine lender for the project, so there’s potential he could acquire equity at some point, depending on the terms of the loan.

Related Stories

• Kushner’s Huge, Neighborhood-Changing Office Complex Brings Restaurant Row to Dumbo
• Check Out the Brooklyn Ties of Presidential Front-Runners Clinton, Trump and Sanders
• How the Jehovah’s Witnesses Acquired Some of Brooklyn’s Most Insanely Valuable Properties

source

[Jack Ryan]

Watchtower has removed the video news update: jehovah’s witnesses moving forward. this video featured jared kushner speaking in glowing terms about wt personnel and how well maintained the buildings were by the organisation.. despite claims in this same video that "we're not trapped in time" by watchtower spokesman david a. semonian, here is the url of the removed page:. https://www.jw.org/en/news/releases/by-region/united-states/video-jehovahs-witnesses-sale-brooklyn-move/ . Here is that video:   OCTOBER 3, 2013