PARK SLOPE — The Park Slope assisted living facility where 140 elderly tenants were booted out has been purchased for $84 million, the brokers who handled the sale said Tuesday.
Developer Sugar Hill Capital Partners closed on its purchase of Prospect Park Residence at 1 Prospect Park West after a lengthy court battle over the fate of the assisted living facility's tenants, the Real Deal first reported.
"This is one of the most iconic buildings in Brooklyn and is one of very few large residential sites currently available in Brooklyn that could be developed into a scalable residential project," said Ofer Cohen, founder and president of TerraCRG which handled the sale.
The nine-story pre-war building is the largest structure on desirable Prospect Park West and overlooks both Grand Army Plaza and Prospect Park, making it "uniquely positioned to be converted into residences," according to TerraCRG.
But before it became the latest acquisition in Sugar Hill's portfolio, 1 Prospect Park West was home to 140 seniors. Their community was abruptly dismantled in March 2014 when owner Haysha Deitsch told them they had 90 days to leave because the facility was closing.
Most of the residents left, but a handful fought to stay, suing Deitsch and the state Department of Health which oversees assisted living facilities.
After a lengthy legal battle — during which residents said they endured harassment and declining services at the facility — Deitsch paid five remaining women $3.35 million to leave the building. The last few are now gone.
Two of the women who are close friends, Alice Singer and Annemarie Mogil, found a new facility to move to together in Lower Manhattan, WNYC reported this week.
"What happened has led to shortened lives and tremendous grief to me I can't imagine anyone wanting to live here," Joyce Singer, the daughter of 92-year-old Alice Singer, told WNYC about the Prospect Park West building.
"I think there are ghosts in these halls."
Sugar Hill Capital Partners is involved in real estate throughout Brooklyn. In Park Slope, the firm converted a dilapidated building at 187 Seventh Ave. into luxury condos set to open soon.
Sugar Hill also acquired a commercial building in the South Slope at 1713 Eighth Ave. and is renovating it. Many artists who had studios there had their leases terminated after Sugar Hill bought the property.
Deitsch, the former owner of Prospect Park Residence, also plans to build a residential development on Fourth Avenue.
A spokeswoman for Sugar Hill Capital Partners declined to comment. Representatives for Deitsch did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
