Hotel Bossert to Become Brooklyn’s First Branded Condo

The branded residence boom has landed in Brooklyn.

Marriott International and SomeraRoad unveiled plans Tuesday for the Ritz-Carlton Residences, Brooklyn Heights at the former Hotel Bossert. The 14-story Renaissance Revival building at 98 Montague Street will be transformed into luxury condos, with construction expected to begin later this year.

The project marks the 50th standalone residence in the Ritz-Carlton’s portfolio, according to Marriott. It will combine private condo ownership with Ritz-Carlton services, including a 24-hour attended lobby, dedicated residential services and access to Marriott benefits.

Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will open its first full-service Brooklyn restaurant on the building’s ground floor. Serhant New Development is handling sales and marketing for the condos.

The branded residences sector has exploded in recent years, fueled by ballooning wealth and a pandemic-catalyzed real estate boom. There were just 323 branded residences in 2015, a figure that has nearly tripled to 910 as of last year, according to Savills. 

Developers are drawn to the branded residence model as a way to attract and build trust with buyers, who, in turn, pay a premium for the logo on the door. Globally, branded residences command an average 33 percent premium, the report found. 

Dubai ranks first for its branded residence pipeline, followed by Miami. New York ranks third, with 32 completed projects and four projects in the pipeline as of the end of last year. This is the first branded residence to cross the river into Brooklyn.

The Bossert’s journey has been long and winding. The New York and Nashville-based developer SomeraRoad purchased the building last year for $100 million after it spent more than a decade in development limbo. The seller was Beach Point Capital, which took over the hotel from the Chetrit Group in February at a foreclosure auction, nine months after the investment management firm purchased the note against the property.

Joseph Chetrit and David Bistricer purchased the 14-story building from the Jehovah’s Witnesses in 2013 and promised to restore it to its former glory, including adding 78 guest rooms, a restaurant and a rooftop bar. A year later, renovations were underway. 

But plans got delayed. In 2019, Chetrit bought out Bistricer’s interest and secured a $112 million loan from Cantor Commercial Real Estate Lending. The loan was assigned to Wells Fargo a year later, when Covid arrived in New York, and went into special servicing in August 2020. Chetrit defaulted on the loan in 2021, according to court filings; Wells Fargo initiated a foreclosure, claiming Chetrit owed over $126 million.

Lumber magnate Louis Bossert built the hotel in 1909; it later became known as Brooklyn’s Waldorf-Astoria. The Jehovah’s Witnesses bought the building in 1983.

SomeraRoad, founded in 2016 by Brooklyn resident Ian Ross, is no stranger to sprucing up older properties. In 2022, the firm purchased a commercial condo unit above the popular power lunch hangout Harry’s at 1 Hanover Square for $6 million and converted it to boutique offices.