Jared Kushner has another Jehovah’s Witnesses site in his company’s development pocket.
On Tuesday, the former Kushner Companies (now called simply “Kushner”), along with Asher Abehsera’s LIVWRK and the CIM Group, closed on a $345 million purchase of 85 Jay St. in the same Dumbo neighborhood as the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Watchtower Real Estate.
Bob Knakal acted as a consultant to Watchtower’s in-house group.
Now a parking lot, the full block can host an as-of-right 1.1 million-square-foot mixed-use development.
“This site has tremendous upside, and we’re looking forward to developing a project that will further enhance the area and help strengthen connections between the Dumbo Heights campus and the waterfront,” said Laurent Morali, president of Kushner.
The venture is assembling a team of architects and consultants. Shaul Kuba, co-founder and principal of the CIM Group, said that “85 Jay is one of the most incredible sites in our mind . . . and has been sitting there empty. Our goal is to use our current zoning and utilize it the best we can and work with the consultants and community [so it] will blend and fit in the community. We need to finalize the consultants and dive into it.”
Although neither Kuba nor Morali would be pinned down to a “program,” all signs point to a carefully planned site with mixed uses. And, despite the views, there won’t be any out-of-place super-tall towers.
In August, the same group closed on the interconnected 25-30-50 and 58 Columbia Heights and 55 Furman St. — topped with the Watchtower sign — which included 739,000 square feet for $370 million. Those buildings are still occupied by the religious group, which is preparing to move all of its operations upstate, to Warwick.
