Storied Hotel Bossert Where Dodgers Partied Faces Foreclosure in Brooklyn Heights

The saga of the iconic Hotel Bossert in Brooklyn Heights continues, with the owners facing foreclosure after missing mortgage payments and racking up hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt on the 113-year-old building — once touted to reopen as a luxury hotel.

A $112 million pre-foreclosure notice was filed against The Chetrit Group in Kings Country Supreme Court on April 13 by Wells Fargo (as a trustee for lender CF Trust 2019-BOSS), which alleges the owners of the hotel, located at 98 Montague Street, now owe just over $126.7 million on the initial $112 million loan, PincusCo first reported.

Partners Joseph Chetrit of Chetrit Group and David Bistricer of Clipper Equity bought the property in 2012 with plans to reopen the iconic hotel, built in 1909, as a Kimpton Hotel, the filing shows. Despite a variety of setbacks, not to mention legal and financial challenges at other properties, Chetrit Group, which owns Hotel Bossert through its entity 98 Montague LLC, was able to get a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building just before the pandemic hit in January of 2020. But the hotel is still not open.

Wells Fargo Bank claims in the filing that it has sent out numerous default notices to the hotel owners, saying they have not complied with the terms and conditions of the loan agreements, and have failed to pay the principal of the loan, along with interest and other charges.

The bank states in the filing it intends to sell the property to recover the outstanding balance of $126,720,620 and any additional debts.

In April 2019, Brownstoner reported that Joseph Chetrit of Chetrit Group bought out former partner David Bistricer of Clipper Equity, as plans for the hotel reopening progressed.

In May 2019, Community Board 2’s Health, Environment and Social Services Committee recommended the approval of a liquor license application for the hotel, following a presentation by Aliya Huey, the general manager of the Tillary Hotel, the hotel’s then manager. Huey said at the time Hotel Bossert was planning a soft opening at the end of August 2019, with an official opening in September – which never materialized.

Then, in March 2021 the hotel popped up on the website of IHG Hotels & Resorts, complete with images of newly refurbished rooms. It also started to appear on hotel booking sites, with details such as prices, which ranged from $246 to $303 a night. The first date available to book was April 30, 2021. But again, nothing materialized.

Built in 1909, the once busy social hub and hotel is a survivor from the neighborhood’s days as a destination spot in the early 20th century. Its rooftop restaurant — named the Marine Roof — became a famous hangout spot starting in the 1920s. When the Dodgers won the World Series in 1955, the team celebrated there. It hit hard times before being bought in 1988 by the Jehovah’s Witnesses, which used it for housing.

The religious organization sold it to Bistricer and Chetrit for $81 million in 2012, who said they planned to renovate and open a boutique hotel. Reps from Chetrit Group were not immediately available to comment on the situation. A few rent-regulated tenants, mentioned in the filing, apparently still live in the building.

Chetrit and Bistricer also partnered to buy the storied Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan, which they sold in 2013. Chetrit Group also developed the hotel-apartment-retail complex at 500 Metropolitan Avenue in Williamsburg. Joseph Chetrit is suing the developer of Brooklyn’s supertall at 9 Dekalb for allegedly failing to pay for a buyout. Chetrit Group or members of the Chetrit family have fallen behind on mortgage payments on at least three other properties, according to The Real Deal. Chetrit Group partner and sibling Meyer Chetrit owns the S.W. Bowne Grain Storehouse in Red Hook, which burned in a fire the NYFD deemed “intentionally set.”

Related Stories

• Sites Show Long-Awaited Rooms at Hotel Bossert, Tease Possible Opening Date of April 30
• Bossert Will Be Managed by Tillary Hotel Team, Soft Opening Planned for August
• Partners Split as Long-Delayed Hotel Bossert Applies for Liquor License

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