On 3 August 2016 the organisation closed the sale of its 25/30 Columbia Heights headquarters complex (about 733,000 sq ft, bought from Squibb in 1969 for $3 million) to a Kushner Companies / CIM Group / LIVWRK partnership; reporting and public records put the price at $340 million, a figure the organisation's own release did not disclose.
Claim ID claim-authority-2016-brooklyn-headquarters-sold-for-340mConcerns 3 August 2016Outcome
The organisation’s position or later explanation: Spokesman Richard Devine: the sale is part of consolidating scattered offices at a new purpose-built headquarters in Warwick, New York.
5 August 2016 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
“On August 3, 2016, Jehovah’s Witnesses officially closed on the sale of their former world headquarters facility, located at 25/30 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn, New York. The sale, to a partnership of Kushner Companies and LIVWRK”
States the property is approximately 733,608 gross sq ft, includes 50 and 58 Columbia Heights and 55 Furman Street, and was bought from Squibb in 1969. No price is disclosed.
“A partnership led by Kushner Companies, CIM Group and LIVWRK has finalized a deal for the famed Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Watchtower building in Brooklyn … The deal, valued at $340 million, is one of the largest ever closed in the borough.”
Notes the 733,000 sq ft headquarters at 25-30 Columbia Heights, that RFR dropped out, and that the same partners had earlier bought five other former Witness buildings in Dumbo for $375 million.
Provenance and verification note for Brownstoner, Kushner and Partners Set to Transform Former Jehovah’s Witnesses HQ Into Posh Offices, Stores
Confidence note. Opened the live page. Downgraded to supported after review: the page was opened but the wording or date recorded here was tool-summarised, translated or inferred rather than confirmed by eye; re-read before upgrading.
“At one point, its portfolio totaled 37 properties in Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo — including a pack of six buildings that sold for $375 million to a team led by Jared Kushner and RFR Realty … $1 billion: The total amount three buildings owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses — 25-30 Columbia Heights, 124 Columbia Heights … and a giant parking lot at 85 Jay Street in Dumbo — could fetch.”
Also states the headquarters was bought for $3 million in 1969 and gives a (third-party study) estimate of $368 million in property tax exemption over 12 years — treat that figure as an estimate, not a fact.
A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-authority-2016-brooklyn-headquarters-sold-for-340m/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.