BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Wednesday will review updated plans for the residential conversion and rooftop expansion of the Hotel Bossert, at 98 Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights.
According to documents submitted to LPC, seven general changes to the initial plans are proposed to create continuity with the existing 14-story, Renaissance Revival-style building, and reduce visibility of mechanicals and bulkheads. These include setting the 13th and 15th floors further back; changing and regularizing the placement of windows; simplifying and darkening the 13th floor cornice; relocating mechanical equipment, stair and elevator bulkheads; and other revisions along these lines.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses purchased the Hotel Bossert in 1983, and carefully restored many of the exterior and interior details. Photo: SomeraRoad
The landmark site is currently being restored and redeveloped into luxury residences by SomeraRoad, a New York and Nashville-based real estate investment and development firm founded by Brooklyn resident Ian Ross.
As the Brooklyn Eagle reported in May, restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group plans to open a full-service restaurant using 3,200 square feet on the Bossert’s ground floor. The restaurant is slated to open in 2028.
The Hotel Bossert’s opulent grand foyer in 2025 — with its pillars of imported Italian marble and crystal chandeliers. Photo: Mary Frost/Brooklyn Eagle
Once known as “The Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn,” the Bossert was built in 1909 by Bushwick lumber millionaire Louis Bossert, head of Louis Bossert & Sons. A back section extending to Remsen Street was added in 1914, and the two-deck Marine Roof in 1916, according to the Jehovah’s Witnesses publication JW.
The Jehovah’s Witnesses purchased the building in 1983, and restored and maintained the building so well that the Bossert won a Lucy G. Moses Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy. The Witnesses departed in 2012, and it has been shuttered ever since, despite several famously unsuccessful attempts at redevelopment.
Some of the proposed changes in the Hotel Bossert renovation, as seen from the southwest projection. Rendering: SLCE Architects via LPC
SomeraRoad said in May 2025 it “plans to honor the property’s rich history,” as it restores and reopens the building as 61 luxury residences.
An offering plan for the conversion was submitted to New York Attorney General Letitia James on June 3, according to New York NIMBY. Residences will be geared primarily toward three- and four-bedroom buyers.
Some of the proposed changes in the Hotel Bossert renovation, as seen from the northeast projection. Rendering: SLCE Architects via LPC