A plan to build a luxury housing development and an emergency medical center in Greenwich Village came a step closer to reality yesterday as a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the bankrupt St. Vincent's Hospital Manhattan campus, according to an article by Anemona Hartocollis in today's edition of The New York Times.
"The judge, Cecelia G. Morris, approved the $260 million sale to the Rudin development family and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish hospital system despite vociferous opposition from a small group of community activists who have been arguing for the creation of a new full-service hospital on the site where St. Vincent's had operated for more than 160 years," the article said.
Alan J. Gerson, a former city councilman who lives in the area, asked for more time to present a rival buyer, but the judge declined, the article said, adding that "the sale was unanimously supported by St. Vincent's creditors, including GE Capital, who are owed about $1 billion, according to Kenneth Eckstein, the lead lawyer for St. Vincent's."
"Outside of court," the article continued, "Mr. Eckstein said that North Shore-L.I.J. was willing to work with the community to try to make the new health center as close to what the residents wanted as it could be. 'Today is the beginning of that process, not the end,' he said."
"The sale would allow the Rudin family to build 590,000 square feet of apartments and town houses on the east part of the campus. North Shore-L.I.J. plans to spend $110 million to turn the O'Toole building across the street into a 24-hour emergency care and walk-in surgery facility. North Shore-L.I.J. officials said, if approved by the State Health Department, the facility would be the first of its kind in the city," the article said.
Fall 2013 is the projected opening date for the health center. Michael Dowling, the chief executive of North Shore-L.I.J., and Bill Rudin, of the Rudin family, hailed the court's decision in a joint statement and said the housing and medical center plan was "a great deal for the community."
The hospital, which was the last general Catholic hospital in New York City, declared bankruptcy a year ago.
In a separate development an article in today's Wall Street Journal by Shelly Banjo said that 37 acres of undeveloped land that are part ofa 66-acre property that house the St., Vincent's 138-bed behavioural health center in Harrison, N.Y., is being offered for sale by Eastern Consolidated with an asking price of $9 million.
After St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy last April, it sold its Westchester County location for $23 million to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers but retained the option to repurchase the 37 acres of undeveloped land for $5 million.
"The judge, Cecelia G. Morris, approved the $260 million sale to the Rudin development family and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish hospital system despite vociferous opposition from a small group of community activists who have been arguing for the creation of a new full-service hospital on the site where St. Vincent's had operated for more than 160 years," the article said.
Alan J. Gerson, a former city councilman who lives in the area, asked for more time to present a rival buyer, but the judge declined, the article said, adding that "the sale was unanimously supported by St. Vincent's creditors, including GE Capital, who are owed about $1 billion, according to Kenneth Eckstein, the lead lawyer for St. Vincent's."
"Outside of court," the article continued, "Mr. Eckstein said that North Shore-L.I.J. was willing to work with the community to try to make the new health center as close to what the residents wanted as it could be. 'Today is the beginning of that process, not the end,' he said."
"The sale would allow the Rudin family to build 590,000 square feet of apartments and town houses on the east part of the campus. North Shore-L.I.J. plans to spend $110 million to turn the O'Toole building across the street into a 24-hour emergency care and walk-in surgery facility. North Shore-L.I.J. officials said, if approved by the State Health Department, the facility would be the first of its kind in the city," the article said.
Fall 2013 is the projected opening date for the health center. Michael Dowling, the chief executive of North Shore-L.I.J., and Bill Rudin, of the Rudin family, hailed the court's decision in a joint statement and said the housing and medical center plan was "a great deal for the community."
The hospital, which was the last general Catholic hospital in New York City, declared bankruptcy a year ago.
In a separate development an article in today's Wall Street Journal by Shelly Banjo said that 37 acres of undeveloped land that are part ofa 66-acre property that house the St., Vincent's 138-bed behavioural health center in Harrison, N.Y., is being offered for sale by Eastern Consolidated with an asking price of $9 million.
After St. Vincent's filed for bankruptcy last April, it sold its Westchester County location for $23 million to St. Joseph's Medical Center in Yonkers but retained the option to repurchase the 37 acres of undeveloped land for $5 million.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
6sqft delivers the latest on real estate, architecture, and design, straight from New York City.
