The iconic Forest Hills Jewish Center at 106-06 Queens Boulevard is up for sale, with an asking price of $50 million. The sale is being handled exclusively by B6 Real Estate Advisors (B6), an investment sales and capital advisory brokerage led by Paul Massey, Jr.
The center is home to a traditional, egalitarian conservative congregation and at it’s height had a membership of more than 600 families. The center runs education, youth and senior programs.
The center was under the leadership of Rabbi Ben-Zion Bokser from 1933, until his passing in 1984. Rabbi Bokser was considered one of the leading Conservative rabbis in the United States. He studied at City College of New York (BA, 1928) and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (ordained, 1931) and Columbia University (PhD, 1935). In it’s prime, The Forest Hills Jewish Center was considered a cornerstone of the non-Orthodox Jewish community in Queens.
The four-story building spans 68,000 square feet and is located two blocks from the Forest Hills-71st Avenue subway station (E,F,M,R), as well as three blocks from the Forest Hills Long Island Railroad station. The lot is more than 36,000 square feet. Besides the main sanctuary hall. The building houses a pool, gym, classrooms, auditorium, and a ballroom with Glatt Kosher outside catering.
Situated within a C4-5X, FH (R7X equivalent) zoning district as well as a Qualified Opportunity Zone, the property offers a maximum of 180,000 BSF for mixed-use development and sits directly across from MacDonald Park, which acts as a buffer between the center and Queens Boulevard.
It’s not clear why the property is up for sale, and representatives from the Forest Hills Jewish Center have declined to comment, according to QNS.com, which first broke the story.
In 2018, the center was looking to tear down the building and replace it with a 10-story multipurpose building which would also include a synagogue. At the time, the center believed they did not need as much space for their dwindling congregation.