Sloatsburg Apartment Complex to Become Housing for Jehovah’s Witnesses
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Though initially fought by the Village of Sloatsburg back in the mid-2000s, the Woodgrove at Sterlington apartment complex off Route 17 has become a staple of the village, providing a home for hundreds of tenants since it officially opened in 2019. The complex’s nine buildings with upscale one-and-two-bedroom apartments offer many amenities, including a fitness room and pool. Woodgrove opened with much fanfare and attracted many locals who wanted to be closer to home.
The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, also known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, originally purchased property in 2004 for their Watch Tower printing operations. This took place 5 years prior to the move of its worldwide headquarters from Brooklyn, where the organization stated it had become too expensive to operate.
In July 2009, the religious group relocated their world headquarters from the expensive borough of Brooklyn to the more reasonably priced mid-Hudson, purchasing more land on the border of Warwick in Orange County and Ramapo in Rockland County
The Woodgrove property, previously named The Woodmont Apartment Complex, was purchased by The Watch Tower in 2019. The religious organization is currently building an audio and visual facility on the site. Although it was initially said that current renters in Woodgrove would be able to continue renting, they are now being asked to vacate so that The Watch Tower staff members can live and work on the property.
According to The Watch Tower, 800 Witnesses will be housed on the property, which will see an office building, a services building, and a modest museum documenting the modern-day history of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
It is unknown at this time whether residents will band together to try to take action against the organization. The change in hands and use of the property will have the Town of Ramapo potentially see a request from The Watch Tower to come off the tax rolls, which will hit both the Village of Sloatsburg and the Town of Ramapo, with a significant impact on homeowners.
Content retrieved from: https://rocklandtimes.com/2025/08/14/sloatsburg-apartment-complex-to-become-housing-for-jehovahs-witnesses/.
