Brooklyn Heights has always had money. Now there is a velvet rope.

The iconic neighborhood perched above the East River is home to the borough’s first branded condos, a members-only sports club with a five-figure price tag, and a bustling chef-owned grocery store. And all this while buyers snap up the few apartments actually put up for sale.

“Since COVID, it’s definitely taken on a completely different aura than it had pre-COVID,” Corcoran broker Deb Rieders told the Post. “It’s always been considered a great neighborhood. However, what’s happened since COVID… prices have gone up exponentially.”

The most striking sign of change is at 98 Montague Street.

In September, Marriott International and developer SomeraRoad revealed plans to convert the 14-story Bossert Hotel, a 1909 Renaissance landmark where the Brooklyn Dodgers toasted their 1955 World Series victory, into Ritz-Carlton Residences in Brooklyn Heights.

Owners will enjoy a 24-hour monitored lobby, wellness and entertainment amenities and benefits across Marriott’s global portfolio. Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group will open its first full-service restaurant in Brooklyn on the ground floor. Work should begin later this year, with completion in 2029. Ryan Serhant’s company is handling sales of units for which prices are not yet available.

“We believe this project will become Brooklyn’s premier residential address and be among the finest new residential offerings in New York City,” SomeraRoad founder Ian Ross said in a statement.

(If the luxury talk sounds familiar, that’s because the Bossert has been here before. Jehovah’s Witnesses sold the building to Joseph Chetrit of the Chetrit Group and David Bistricer of Clipper Equity for $81 million in 2012, with plans for a boutique hotel. Reopening has been pushed back repeatedly, with a planned fall 2017 debut as Esplendor Bossert Chetrit defaulted in May 2022 due as much as $126.7 million, and a rescue attempt by hoteliers Ian Schrager and Ed Scheetz in 2023 failed (Lender Beach Point Capital took the property in an uncontested auction in February 2025, then sold it to SomeraRoad for $100 million in May.)

Rieders said the news of the Ritz initially caught the industry off guard.

“I think it surprised all of us, although I’m not surprised at all, actually, given the bidding wars I have on each of my properties in the Heights,” she said.

“With wealthier residents comes a desire for more refined amenities.” Rieders explained why a hotel brand would plant its flag there.

A few blocks away, the Kings Athletic Club opened this fall at the foot of the St. George Hotel co-op at 43 Clark Street. The 52,000 square foot playground includes two tennis courts, pickleball, a swimming pool, squash courts, golf simulators, yoga and Pilates studios and a half basketball court. Billy Durney, founder of Red Hook Tavern, runs the kitchen.

The club would not discuss pricing, but a source familiar with its options said annual memberships range from $30,000 to $70,000 and there is already a waiting list.

The Ritz is not the only newcomer to bet big on the neighborhood.

Landau Properties broke ground this summer on One Montague Place at 205 Montague St., a 50-story mixed-use tower that will offer 46 condos, 90 rentals and 40,000 square feet of retail. Designed by Hill West Architects with interiors by Zarifi Design, the project offers a hotel-style lifestyle built around wellness, with a jazz club, private club and a range of leisure and entertainment spaces.

Pricing details are not yet available, but reports indicate that units will start at around $6 million. Greg Williamson of Douglas Elliman is the primary broker handling sales there.

“As someone born and raised in Brooklyn Heights and having represented many buildings in the area, I have never seen the neighborhood more desirable than it is today,” he told the Post. “We are already seeing considerable interest and enthusiasm around the project.”

Rieders said the fiercest fights weren’t over trophy townhouses. They exceed relatively accessible apartments.

“Anything within an ‘affordable’ price range enters into a bidding war,” she said. “All the co-ops or one- to four-bedroom condos all seem to get into bidding wars.”

Recent sales confirm this. Take a two-bedroom apartment at 89 State St. It hit the market at $1.67 million on Sept. 7, went under on Sept. 22, and closed on Oct. 26 for $1.9 million, $230,000 above asking.

At 75 Poplar St., another two-bedroom asking $1.65 million found a buyer within a week. It sold in September for $125,000 more than the asking price.

The reason is basic supply and demand.

“There is a serious shortage of inventory,” Rieders said. “Almost all co-ops and condos are getting into a bidding war because people aren’t really moving out. There’s not a huge amount of movement out, there’s just people wanting to move in.”

“I would say in the $1 million to $5 million range, everything turns into a bidding war,” she added. One of his buyers “outbid on about six things before finally getting an accepted offer.”

Across the neighborhood, homes are going into contract in a median of 45 days, three days faster than a year ago, with a median sale price of about $1.77 million. At the top, an off-market deal for a Civil War-era townhouse at 192 Columbia Heights closed for about $25 million, the most expensive sale in Brooklyn so far this year.

Rieders traces this frenzy to the pandemic, when Manhattanites wanted space and trees without much distance. They stayed for the schools, walkability and public transportation.

“It’s easier to get around from Brooklyn Heights than any part of Manhattan because all the subways are there,” she said. And as an iconic neighborhood, “it’s very protected from development.”

The bold have made their way a long time ago. Matt Damon set a borough record with a $16.7 million penthouse at the Standish at 171 Columbia Heights, and Emily Blunt and John Krasinski followed with an $11 million full floor in the same building. Over the summer, Adam Driver paid $11.5 million for three units on the sixth floor of the building.

“I think ordinary people and celebrities are the same,” Rieders said. “So you feel like you’re living on Mayberry Lane, but you’re at the foot of the biggest, busiest city in the world.”

The gastronomic scene, long a weak point, is catching up.

“It’s been a restaurant desert for years, frankly,” Rieders said. Now, the culinary world’s darling, Alison Roman, is setting up a permanent Brooklyn Heights outpost of her deli and cafe, First Bloom, with speculation pointing to 144 Montague St.

And the money doesn’t stay there. Rieders sees this spreading to neighboring enclaves like Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and Carroll Gardens.

“It’s all the brownstone neighborhoods close to Manhattan,” she said.

“It feels like we’re living in a small town, but we have all the benefits of living in the largest city in the United States. »