The 7.5-acre Visitation Academy and monastery campus in Bay Ridge, enclosed for generations behind a 30-foot stone wall, has been sold to a private equity firm for $42.25 million, ending 170 years of ties between the site and the neighborhood it served. The buyer, Integritas Capital, closed on the property this month after the Visitation Sisters of Brooklyn Inc. put the historic grounds on the market following the closure of the beloved all-girls school and the departure of its dwindling order of nuns.
According to state filings reported by Commercial Observer, Integritas Capital acquired the monastery property for $42.25 million through a buyer entity called 1137 91 LLC, which was formed in March 2026. That entity is led by Integritas Capital founder Stephen Palmese, alongside passive investors including Heights Advisors president Rachel Foster, Heights director Scott Geddes, and Florida developers Daniel and Matthew Kodsi — a syndicate that signals real estate development, not preservation, is likely ahead. The Sisters of the Visitation entered into an initial sales contract in late April 2026 and expect net proceeds of $40.9 million from the deal, which will be held in escrow, per the same account.
The transaction required formal sign-off from the New York State Attorney General’s office, which approved the Catholic order’s petition on Monday under state law requiring such approval whenever a non-profit sells substantially all of its assets. Integritas Capital describes itself as a vertically integrated private equity firm focused on commercial real estate private equity and private credit strategies, and says on its company website that it has led investment in more than $2.5 billion in real estate projects and developed more than $1 billion in real estate transactions since 2004, as reported by Brooklyn Eagle.
A Community Says It Was Shut Out
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis said Bay Ridge and New York deserved better than to be blindsided and kept in the dark, adding that the community was disappointed the beloved site had been sold. Kayla Santosuosso, who leads the local Bay Ridge community group cited in the Eagle’s report, said the sale process excluded her office and the broader community from the start, and that the new owner’s intentions for the property remain unknown…