Jehovah's Witnesses sell 69 Adams St. in DUMBO for $65 million

[Guest Nicole]

The buyer is the Rabsky Group, a prolific residential developer

By Lore Croghan

Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Another piece of the empire is gone.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have sold 69 Adams St. in DUMBO, which had been one of the last properties left in their once-vast Brooklyn real-estate portfolio, for $65 million, city Finance Department records indicate.

The buyer is 69 Adams LLC with Simon Dushinsky of the Rabsky Group as authorized signatory, the records show.

The Rabsky Group, headed by Dushinsky and Isaac Rabinowitz, is a prolific residential developer in Brooklyn and Queens.

Dushinsky did not respond to a call for comment by press time.
The sale closed on Nov. 29, the Watchtower announced without revealing the purchaser's identity or the price paid.

The just-sold development site is located thisclose to the Manhattan Bridge and is currently occupied by a four-story building that's a recreational facility with a tennis court on the roof and a parking garage.

In a statement, Watchtower spokesman Richard Devine called 69 Adams St. "a premiere real estate opportunity, not only because of its location but also because of its building potential.”

He said that zoning allows for the construction of a 157,000-square-foot-plus building that's 280 feet tall.

In late October, the Brooklyn Eagle reported that the Watchtower had made a deal to sell the site, where a luxury residential tower with commercial space, storefronts and a community facility can be built as-of-right.

Jared Kushner is reportedly buying another DUMBO Watchtower site  

The closing of the sale of 69 Adams St. represents another step forward in the Watchower's years-long efforts to liquidate its local property holdings because of the relocation of its world headquarters from Brooklyn Heights to upstate Warwick, New York.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have just a few Brooklyn properties left.

The religious organization has made a deal to sell one of them — a parking lot at 85 Jay St. in DUMBO with nearly 1 million square feet of development rights — to the Kushner Cos. and its investment partners for $345 million, the New York Posthas reported. The deal is expected to close this month, the newspaper said.

The Kushner Cos.' chief executive officer is Jared Kushner, President-elect Donald Trump's son-in-law, who served as an advisor to his father-in-law during his successful election campaign.

Offers were due on Nov. 17 for another Watchtower DUMBO development site, 74 Adams St. A vehicle-maintenance facility stands on the property, but as-of-right luxury residential development is allowed there.

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/12/2/jehovahs-witnesses-sell-69-adams-st-dumbo-65-million