diff --git a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee
index ba565af867..4f3b93fc48 100644
--- a/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee
+++ b/services/web/app/coffee/Features/Project/ProjectDetailsHandler.coffee
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ _ = require("underscore")
 PublicAccessLevels = require("../Authorization/PublicAccessLevels")
 Errors = require("../Errors/Errors")
 ProjectTokenGenerator = require('./ProjectTokenGenerator')
+ProjectEntityHandler = require('./ProjectEntityHandler')
 ProjectHelper = require('./ProjectHelper')
 settings = require('settings-sharelatex')
 
@@ -46,6 +47,26 @@ module.exports = ProjectDetailsHandler =
 				logger.err err:err, "something went wrong setting project description"
 			callback(err)
 
+	transferOwnership: (project_id, user_id, callback)->
+		ProjectGetter.getProject project_id, {owner_ref: true}, (err, project)->
+			return callback(err) if err?
+			return callback(new Errors.NotFoundError("project not found")) unless project?
+			return callback() if project.owner_ref == user_id
+
+			UserGetter.getUser user_id, (err, user) ->
+				return callback(err) if err?
+				return callback(new Errors.NotFoundError("user not found")) unless user?
+
+				Project.update {_id: project_id},
+					{$set: {owner_ref: user_id}, $pull: {
+						readOnly_refs: user_id,
+						collaberator_refs: user_id,
+						tokenAccessReadAndWrite_refs: user_id,
+						tokenAccessReadOnly_refs: user_id
+					}}, (err) ->
+						return callback(err) if err?
+						ProjectEntityHandler.flushProjectToThirdPartyDataStore project_id, callback
+
 	renameProject: (project_id, newName, callback = ->)->
 		ProjectDetailsHandler.validateProjectName newName, (error) ->
 			return callback(error) if error?
diff --git a/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee b/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee
index 9714a7e6bd..22dc15826e 100644
--- a/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee
+++ b/services/web/test/unit/coffee/Project/ProjectDetailsHandlerTests.coffee
@@ -30,11 +30,14 @@ describe 'ProjectDetailsHandler', ->
 			getUser: sinon.stub().callsArgWith(1, null, @user)
 		@tpdsUpdateSender =
 			moveEntity:sinon.stub().callsArgWith 1
+		@ProjectEntityHandler =
+			flushProjectToThirdPartyDataStore: sinon.stub().callsArg(1)
 		@handler = SandboxedModule.require modulePath, requires:
 			"./ProjectGetter":@ProjectGetter
 			'../../models/Project': Project:@ProjectModel
 			"../User/UserGetter": @UserGetter
 			'../ThirdPartyDataStore/TpdsUpdateSender':@tpdsUpdateSender
+			"./ProjectEntityHandler": @ProjectEntityHandler
 			'logger-sharelatex':
 				log:->
 				err:->
@@ -80,6 +83,34 @@ describe 'ProjectDetailsHandler', ->
 				err.should.equal error
 				done()
 
+	describe "transferOwnership", ->
+		it "should return a not found error if the project can't be found", (done) ->
+			@ProjectGetter.getProject.callsArgWith(2)
+			@handler.transferOwnership 'abc', '123', (err) ->
+				err.should.exist
+				err.name.should.equal "NotFoundError"
+				done()
+
+		it "should return a not found error if the user can't be found", (done) ->
+			@ProjectGetter.getProject.callsArgWith(2)
+			@handler.transferOwnership 'abc', '123', (err) ->
+				err.should.exist
+				err.name.should.equal "NotFoundError"
+				done()
+
+		it "should transfer ownership of the project", (done) ->
+			@ProjectModel.update.callsArgWith(2)
+			@handler.transferOwnership 'abc', '123', () =>
+				sinon.assert.calledWith(@ProjectModel.update, {_id: 'abc'})
+				done()
+
+		it "should flush the project to tpds", (done) ->
+			@ProjectModel.update.callsArgWith(2)
+			@handler.transferOwnership 'abc', '123', () =>
+				sinon.assert.calledWith(@ProjectEntityHandler.flushProjectToThirdPartyDataStore, 'abc')
+				done()
+
+
 	describe "getProjectDescription", ->
 
 		it "should make a call to mongo just for the description", (done)->