A medical arts complex in Rockaway Beach is fully leased, and plans to bring top-quality health care to the medically underserved areas of the Rockaway peninsula.
CHA Partners, a vertically integrated real estate developer, announced that the 60,000-square-foot medical arts complex at 105-20 Rockaway Beach Blvd. is 100 percent leased.
Tenants at the Rockaway Beach Medical Arts Complex include St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, MercyFirst children and family care, and the Ambulatory Surgery Center of Rockaway Beach.
St. John’s Episcopal Hospital, the main hospital serving thousands of residents in the peninsula, will have primary care, dermatology, endocrinology, physical therapy, behavioral health, cardiology, neurology, general surgery, women’s health and cancer care at the center.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said the COVID-19 pandemic not only “stole the lives of nearly 700 Rockaway residents” it also “laid bare the grave and deadly inequities peninsula families have faced for years” in relation to healthcare accessibility.
“With just one hospital on the peninsula, access to comprehensive, quality healthcare has been nothing more than a myth for too many people. But the Rockaway Beach Medical Arts Complex, now fully leased, will go a long way toward righting this historical wrong,” Richards said. “We are beyond grateful to our many partners for bringing this complex to life and look forward to the healthier Rockaway it will create.”
CHA Partners, which specializes in imaginative public-private partnerships in the Tristate area, conceived of the Rockaway Beach Medical Complex to fill a void in local healthcare that was created when Peninsula Hospital closed its doors following Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
The project created approximately 50 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs. The center is expected to provide health care services for about 5,000 community members annually.
The medical building, completed in 2019, is expected to reintroduce “best-in-class, community-based” health care services.
“It’s been a long time since high-quality medical offices were built for Rockaway residents, and CHA Partners is proud to collaborate with NYCEDC, Chase Bank and Provident Bank to realize the greatest level of services possible in this vital and vibrant part of New York City,” CHA Partners Managing Partner Bill Colgan said. “What began with a desire to provide a much-needed community asset has led us to create the best medical arts facility in the region.”
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) supported the project with $9 million New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) financing in collaboration with Chase Community Development Bank. The NMTC program is a federal funding program meant to encourage investment in underserved areas of New York City.
“A critical component to making our city fairer is strengthening neighborhoods for all New Yorkers,” said Rachel Loeb, president and CEO of NYCEDC. “By investing in healthcare resources in underserved communities, we’re uniquely positioned to establish New York City as the public health capital of the world. We’re thrilled to support the Rockaway Beach Medical Arts Complex with New Markets Tax Credit funding that will provide much-needed medical services for residents in Rockaway.”
The four-story building is currently open, with construction still ongoing on the third floor.
