After an injunction by the runner up in the bidding for the former Caritas properties was denied by a bankruptcy judge, it seems the sale will go through for Brooklyn-based Guttman Realty, and is expected to be complete in the next few weeks.
“We had a very frank, open discussion [with Guttman],” said Dan Andrews, spokesperson for Borough President Helen Marshall, “and she [Marshall] relayed her desire for health care at both sites [St. John’s Queens Hospital, on Queens Boulevard, and Mary Immaculate, in Jamaica].”
At an auction on Friday, October 16, Guttman outbid Village Management Group to take over both sites for a total price of $26.625 million.
However, it was reported that Village, which had plans for health care facilities, charged that the bidding was unfair.
Additionally, according to sources, Village would have worked with New York Hospital Queens had it won the bidding.
At the meeting with Guttman representatives, Andrews said that “He [Joshua Guttman] was receptive” to Marshall’s request for some type of medical facility, though “there are no concrete plans in place yet.”
“The Borough President would like nothing better than to hook up a hospital with Guttman Realty,” said Andrews. “We hope to forge a relationship between a hospital and Guttman and thereby get a medical use at the facility.”
Andrews went on to say that Guttman would not demolish either building, and in fact commented on the beauty of the architecture, particularly at Mary Immaculate.
“They have not excluded [a health care facility], but no client has come forward or wanted to finance it,” said Isaac Abraham, who is working as a spokesperson for Guttman in Intergovernmental and Community Relations.
Saying they are trying to close as quickly as possible, as it is costing in the hundreds of thousands of dollars per week to upkeep the properties, Abraham continued, “We are still working with community leaders and elected officials” but will have a more clear picture after the closing.
The Caritas Board of Trustees, which is reportedly in arrears to the State Dormitory Authority for more than $60 million, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in federal court on Friday, February 6. The doors of St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate hospitals closed for the final time at midnight on Saturday, February 28, leaving the borough severely under bedded, according to Marshall.
