UPDATED, Nov. 1, 6:49 p.m.: The Jehovah’s Witnesses continued their Brooklyn selling spree, offloading a Brooklyn Heights apartment building to private equity firm Kayne Anderson Real Estate Advisors for $200 million.
The buyer plans to spend another $100 million to renovate the property at 21 Clark Street and convert it into a luxury senior home, the Wall Street Journal reported. The developer hopes to cash in on growing demand for assisted living as baby boomers age.
“We’re on the cusp of seeing a golden moment for demand,” Green Street Advisors analyst Michael Knott told the Wall Street Journal. “But we think it’s a product type where new supply will crop up to meet burgeoning demand.” Venture Capital Properties’ Ali Reslan represented the buyer.
Developers in the city are betting big on a wave of demand coming from seniors who want luxury homes and don’t mind the five-figure rents. Welltower and Hines, for example, are constructing a senior living facility at 139 East 56th Street with apartments that rent for up to $20,000.
Florida-based Kayne Anderson has $6 billion in assets under management and owns student and senior housing as well as medical office buildings.
The Witnesses have been selling their 36 Brooklyn buildings over the past couple of years as they relocate to Warwick, New York. In August, the religious organization sold 97 Columbia Heights for $58 million.[WSJ] — Konrad Putzier