Dumbo is the new Trump Village!
Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner will be the new owner of the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ iconic Watchtower building in Dumbo and a massive chunk of vacant land ready to be filled with luxury high-rises, according to a recent New York Post report.
Kushner — who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, is reportedly one of The Donald’s closest advisors, and whose newspaper the New York Observer recently published a glowing endorsement of his father-in-law for president — has a hand-shake agreement, along with developers Aby Rosen and Livwrk, to buy up both the parking lot at the corner of Jay at Front streets and the Witness’s old Columbia Heights headquarters for $700 million, the paper reported.
Both are hot properties that real-estate moguls have been salivating over for years. The vacant lot at 85 Jay St. is one of the few spare tracts of land in the pricey ’hood zoned for residential use — and Kushner and co. would be able to build several towers containing a thousand units there — while the gargantuan Watchtower office building spans two city blocks and sports stunning views over the East River.
The Christmas-shunning church is selling off its Dumbo properties before relocating upstate next year.
The purchase would not be the first time the trio has broken bread with the religious sect — it bought five of the other Witness buildings in 2013 for $373 million, and has since started turning the skyway-connected complex into an office, restaurant, and retail mega-hub dubbed Dumbo Heights, and also reportedly plans on turning a sixth into a swank hotel.
Dumbo business boosters say they’re happy with what the controversial Republican frontrunner’s kin has done in the neighborhood so far, and they’re looking forward to him building more walls in the future.
“If this happens, we’d be delighted,” said Alexandria Sica of the Dumbo Improvement District. “This team is doing great things with Dumbo Heights and we are excited to see what they’ll have in store on Jay Street.”
Donald Trump’s father, Fred, was responsible for several buildings in Brooklyn, including the vast Trump Village complex in Coney Island, where the tycoon cut his teeth collecting rents as a youngster.
Kushner Properties declined to comment, and the other developers did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
