Visitation Academy and church sold to private equity firm for $42M

BAY RIDGE — The Visitation Academy and church property has been sold to a private equity firm.

The Commercial Observer reported on Tuesday that the monastery was sold to Integritas Capital for $42.25 million. The seller was the Visitation Sisters of Brooklyn Inc.

The outlet also said the cohort of buyers suggests the property will likely become a major mixed-use or residential development. 

According to its website, Integritas Capital is a private equity firm focused on commercial real estate and private credit strategies. The firm says it has directly developed more than $1 billion in real estate transactions since 2004 and has served as lead investor on more than $2.5 billion in real estate projects.

In February 2024, the all-girls Catholic school on the site announced its closure, along with the monastery. The school closed permanently in June 2024. Alumni attended a thanksgiving service in September 2024 and said goodbye to the space.

The school was founded in 1855 as part of the Visitation Monastery. The campus is 7.5 acres, with the building within a 30-foot stone wall.

“I’m absolutely disgusted with all of the so-called religious leaders involved in this sale,” said Jennifer Sayad, an alum of the school. “It is heartbreaking and infuriating for those of us who went to this school, sent our children there, and have deep roots in this community. This is so much more than a property sale; it’s the loss of a place that meant so much to generations of families.”

“We are disappointed to learn that this beloved site, which has meant so much to our community, has been sold,” U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis told the Brooklyn Eagle. “For years, countless children were fortunate to receive a unique education there, while members of the community enjoyed the many events held on the property.” 

“In the past, we’ve reached out to the nuns in an attempt to work with them to preserve the site as much as possible with no success and no real transparency as to their intentions,” she continued. “After years of being a part of the community and receiving tax exemption, Bay Ridge and New York deserved better than to be blindsided by a sale and kept in the dark about its future.”

Councilmember Kayla Santosuosso commented on the sale.

“The people controlling the sale deliberately shut our office and the broader community out of the process from the start, and we still do not know what the new owner intends to do with the property,” she said. “We are therefore left to assume that the developer’s interest in our neighborhood is primarily financial. It is deeply unfortunate that the sale of this campus, home to a beloved school and annual events that served our neighborhood for 170 years, was ultimately reduced to a purely financial transaction conducted under the cloak of darkness.”

She added that local organizations and community groups came forward with serious offers and proposals that would have “built upon and respected this historic site’s legacy of meaningful community use and connection to the neighborhood.”

“Those opportunities were passed over, and in the end, the highest bidder and the almighty dollar won out,” she said.

Following the closure of the school, Fontbonne Hall Academy opened its middle school, the Visitation Program, in September 2024. The program provided a home for former Visitation students from sixth through eighth grade.

“Losing Visitation was a loss to the community, and we are certainly sad about that, but we are happy to offer a new home to these young women,” Fontbonne Principal Rocco Gentile told the Brooklyn Eagle during the opening.

When asked whether the property could be petitioned for landmark status, Santosuosso said that although you can landmark a part of a building, the status wouldn’t protect the whole property or structure.

“That is disappointing, but it makes what happens next even more important,” said Santosuosso. “As promised from the beginning, we will do everything in our power to ensure that whatever happens here is responsible, appropriate for its surroundings and respectful of the character of the neighborhood. We will also continue pushing to preserve as much of the existing property, open space and historic character as possible.”