770 Yeshiva Sells Iconic 749 Dormitory Building

Following decades of legal and financial issues with the dormitory at 749 Eastern Parkway, the administration of United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth sold the building to Igud Talmidei Hakvutzah to house bochurim who are studying in their framework.

By Anash.org reporter

Following decades of legal and financial issues, the administration of United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth sold the iconic 749 dormitory building to the Igud Talmidei Hakvutzah organization to house bochurim studying in their framework.

Since the late 1960s, the four-story building at 749 Eastern Parkway has served as a dormitory for bochurim learning at the Central Yeshiva Tomchei Tmimim located at 770 Eastern Parway, right across the street. The Rebbe visited the building on a number of occasions to see how the bochurim conducted the seder of the night of Pesach.

Unlike the dormitory at 1414 President Street, which is under the direct management of the yeshiva administration, the dormitory at 749 Eastern Parkway, known simply as “749”, was left without any official management by the administration. The rooms in the building were not assigned by any official body, but instead were passed from bochur to bochur.

In recent years, differences of understanding between various bodies in the administration of the 770 Yeshiva have led the building situation to deteriorate, and financial and legal issues began piling up, resulting in extreme difficulties to individuals legally responsible for the building. Seeing no other resource, the United Lubavitcher Yeshivoth administration realized that they would no longer be able to hold onto the building.

After lengthy negotiations, they agreed to sell the dormitory to Igud Talmidei Hakvutzah Inc. The Igud organization was founded recently to assist the students who traveled from Eretz Yisroel to spend a year studying in ‘kvutzah’ as well as to facilitate the arrival of larger groups of students who did not wish to join the traditional framework of the 770 Yeshiva.

In addition to their role assisting the kvutzah students, the Igud was also in close contact with the groups of bochurim who were the de facto managers of the building, allowing the sale to take place without any extraordinary occurrences.

In recent months, the ULY board and the Igud organization have been working on the legal details of the sale, giving full control and ownership of the building to the Igud.

A source at Igud Talmidei Hakvutzah confirmed the sale to Anash.org, and said that the building would be undergoing extensive renovations over the coming months.

“We will be redoing the entire building to bring it up to standard,” the source said. “However, to make sure we don’t displace too many bochurim at once, we will be renovating the building in stages, only requiring a few bochurim to move out at any given time. We hope to have the renovation completed as fast as possible.”