They have not yet revealed their plans for the property, and no permits have been filed. The property is \u201cunder contract\u201d to be sold, according to The Tablet<\/a>, but the contract has not been finalized. Neither Integritas or Heights Advisors replied to request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both companies have backed and developed large new construction and adaptive reuse projects across New York City and down the East Coast.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n In 2014, after the Brooklyn Diocese closed the historic Church of St. Ignatius in Crown Heights, Heights Advisors razed<\/a> the building to make way for condominiums, though the project was later converted to a homeless shelter with affordable housing<\/a>. Last year, Integritas granted a $125 million construction loan for a massive office-to-residential conversion project in Dumbo<\/a>. In January, the company lent $25.3 million<\/a> to a developer planning to build a 27-story tower that will incorporate a landmarked church<\/a> in Fort Greene.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Brooklyn Visitation Monastery and Visitation Academy were founded in 1855 and served generations of Bay Ridgeites.\u00a0<\/p>\n By 2024, there were only two nuns left in the monastery. Rules laid out by the Holy See require an \u201cad-hoc\u201d committee to examine the long-term prospects of dwindling religious orders, The Tablet<\/a> reported at the time, and that committee made the decision to shutter the monastery and the school<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Visitation Academy, which had around 100 students at the time, shuttered permanently in the summer of 2024, while the nuns remained at the monastery for a while longer. The website for the Brooklyn Visitation Monastery<\/a> now instructs visitors to reach out to the Visitation Monastery in Rockville, Virginia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The closure shocked Bay Ridgeites, and local leaders immediately vowed to work closely with the Sisters to ensure the property continued to serve the community.\u00a0<\/p>\n And they tried, said Council Member Kayla Santosuosso. At the time, she was working in then-Council Member Justin Brannan\u2019s office, and they made \u201cmultiple\u201d attempts to reach out to the Sisters and the seller\u2019s agent, to no avail. Early on there were interested parties who hoped to make an offer on the property, she said \u2014 including Xaverian High School, which she felt would have been a \u201cgreat fit\u201d for the nabe.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Santosuosso took office earlier this year, Brannan tried to encourage the Sisters to work with her.\u00a0 \u201cJust a real refusal to engage, no interest to talk with us, and to me that implies that they wanted to slip this under the radar,\u201d she said. \u201c \u2026 Yes, I\u2019m an elected official, but it\u2019s not out of any sort of deference that I want them to come to me. It\u2019s because I\u2019m supposed to represent the interests of the people that live here. So when you\u2019re boxing me out, you\u2019re boxing everybody else out too.\u201d<\/p>\n Santosuosso hadn\u2019t been told anything about the sale until it made headlines last week, she said. Documents show that the Visitation Sisters entered into a contract of sale with 1137 91 LLC in April.<\/p>\n The Sisters and their agent, Frank Dalicandro, spearheaded the effort of trying to find a buyer, Santosuosso said, but it seemed that final decisions were approved by Vatican officials.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though the Diocese of Brooklyn was involved in operating Visitation Academy, it never owned the property, a spokesperson confirmed, and will not receive any revenue from the sale.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many locals are concerned that if housing is built on the site, it will be out of scale with the neighborhood and unaffordable to Bay Ridgeites, and will result in the loss of the historic structures, Santosuosso said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Josephine Beckmann, district manager for Community Board 10, said the office has fielded lots of phone calls about the site since the sale was approved.\n<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s still so early and preliminary that there is a lot of concern out there about the site,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a beautiful open space that\u2019s been enjoyed by generations of students there at Visitation, and those who worshipped there. We\u2019ve heard from the immediate neighbors, we\u2019ve heard from Bay Ridgeites just concerned about what the possibilities of development are on the site.\u201d<\/p>\n But, she noted, it\u2019s all speculation so far. The board hasn\u2019t heard from the developer yet \u2014 which Beckmann noted isn\u2019t unusual, though a sale of this scale is \u201cunprecedented\u201d in Bay Ridge \u2014 and doesn\u2019t know what they might have planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would say most residents would like to see development that is certainly contextual, fulfills needs of the district, and would like to be part of the conversation and certainly provide input to the developer,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n In 2024, as part of City of Yes, Brannan got Visitation removed<\/a> from the Special Bay Ridge District<\/a>, which includes restrictions on height and Floor Area Ratio to \u201cpreserve the character\u201d of the area.\u00a0 Still, the property is currently zoned<\/a> for low-density one and two-family residential units, and would need to be rezoned for larger projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Usually, those rezonings require approval from the City Council, which tends to follow the lead of the council member who represents the district where a project is proposed \u2014 in this case, Santosuosso.\u00a0<\/p>\n But, last year, New Yorkers voted to approve a charter amendment<\/a> that will fast-track certain rezoning applications that include affordable housing in the 12 city districts that have produced the smallest amount of affordable housing in the past five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"fort](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/fort-greene-144-st-felix-street-march2026-lpc-proposal-rendering-51.webp\")
Integritas loaned more than $25 million to the developer behind a a tower that will rise out of a historic church in Fort Greene. Rendering by FXCollaborative and ADP Architects via LPC<\/p>\n
\n![\"visitation](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/20240908_121352.jpg\")
Mother Susan Marie of the Visitation Monastery during a farewell service and tour in 2024. File photo by Arthur de Gaeta\n<\/p>\n
![\"visitation](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_20240908_123609.jpg\")
Some locals worry the historic buildings will be razed. File photo by Arthur de Gaeta<\/p>\n