Plans for the conversion of the Hotel Bossert into a 61-unit condo building are moving forward.
The city Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a revised plan for rooftop additions and other exterior work, clearing the way for the conversion of the 98 Montague St. landmark.
The 9-0 vote came a little over two months after commissioners heard the original proposal on June 23 and took no action, sending the development team back to rework a design they said sat too heavily on top of the building.
Because the Bossert sits in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, any exterior change requires approval from the commission — that covers everything from window openings to rooftop mechanical equipment. The building occupies the full block of Hicks Street between Montague and Remsen.
The Bossert, once known as the “Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn,” was built in two phases, the north section in 1909 and the south in 1912. The Jehovah’s Witnesses bought the Bossert in 1988 and used it until 2012, when they sold it as part of their broader exit from Brooklyn Heights. Efforts to reopen it as a hotel stalled repeatedly in the years after.
SomeraRoad, a development firm founded by Brooklyn Heights local Ian Ross, bought the building for $100 million in May 2025. The firm plans to convert the building into 61 condominiums, primarily three- and four-bedroom units.
Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group has signed on for a 3,200-square-foot restaurant on the ground floor — its first full-service restaurant in Brooklyn.
Both the building and restaurant are slated to open in 2028, a spokesperson for SomeraRoad said.
The building has carried rooftop additions since 1916, when the Marine Roof restaurant opened above it. The most recent came in the late 1990s, adding the existing 13th floor and part of the 14th. The earlier plan called for modifying those floors and adding a 15th. Commissioners in June said the new top floor was too dominant from the street.
The updated plan sets the 13th and 15th floors back, so the rooftop addition isn’t as visible from the street. The overall views of the building are now “much cleaner and much less of a competition between the addition and the building below,” said Ward Dennis of Higgins Quasebarth & Partners, who presented the revised design on Tuesday.
From Remsen Street, he said, the 13th floor now reads as a backdrop rather than a presence, and the 15th floor is “much less dominant than it was previously.”
The most visible change involves mechanical equipment. The earlier design placed bulky screened equipment prominently at the 14th floor, and the Brooklyn Heights Association raised concerns about its impact on the view from Hicks Street. The revised plan moves the equipment to the 12th-floor roof, eliminating the screening entirely.
Around back, the team also revised the proposed balconies at commissioners’ request, switching the slabs to black metal and replacing glass railings with metal pickets.
An offering plan for the condos — the disclosure document the state requires before units can be sold or advertised — was submitted to the attorney general’s office on July 30 and is awaiting acceptance.
Heights Happenings
L’Appartement 4F is hosting a one-night omakase experience with Shom Mazumder, formerly of Bridges, Estela and the Four Horsemen, on Sept. 15.
The stained glass water tower above the Brooklyn Bridge Park’s administrative building at 334 Furman St. has been temporarily removed while the building undergoes renovation.
Lantern Thai Kitchen is closing after 20 years in the neighborhood. The restaurant on Montague Street will undergo renovations and re-open under new management. It’s last day of service is Sept. 30.
The Pier 5 soccer fields will be closed until Sept. 7 for annual maintenance.
A Con Ed transformer on Middagh Street caught fire on Saturday night, blowing off a manhole cover and pushing carbon monoxide into nearby buildings. Firefighters found potentially deadly carbon monoxide levels and evacuated 65 Middagh St. and 20 Henry St. No injuries were reported.
Some transportation advocacy groups are suggesting that drivers should shoulder the cost of the new BQE project, and the Mamdani administration should insitute new tools like tolling, Gothamist reported.
Nearby News
Bạn Bè, New York’s first Vietnamese-American bakery and cafe, is moving into a new space in the Columbia Street Waterfront District in November. The bakery will have to-go window service, indoor seating, in-house pantry items, classes and baked goods like pandan cookies. Founder Doris Ho-Kane is raising money for the bakery on Kickstarter.
Sam’s, the nearly 100-year-old red-sauce Italian American restaurant in Cobble Hill, will reopen on Sept. 10. The new owner, Georgia Fulton, who previously worked as a server at Long Island Bar for 12 years, is keeping the new Sam’s close to the original, Grub Street reported.
Cafe Wands, a coffee shop and all-day-cafe from Chez Fifi partner Justin Wands, is taking over the former Gus’s in Carroll Gardens, The Strong Buzz reported. Wands, a former opera singer and restaurateur with The NoMad and Chef Thomas Keller, plans to open the cafe at 215 Union St. on Nov. 1.
Carroll Gardens has “lost much of its old-world charm” as longtime residents and restaurants continue to leave, Curbed says.
A protected bike lane on Ashland Place, sometimes referred to as “Crashland” due to safety issues, is officially open. The two-way bike lane fills in the final gap of a 5.5-mile protected biking corridor from Sunset Park to Dumbo.
The People’s Runway Fashion Show is returning to Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza on Sept. 12 at 6 p.m. The show will feature five Brooklyn-based designers.