By Stephen Stirling
Bankrupt and shuttered Caritas’ Health Care Inc.’s Mary Immaculate Hospital and St. Johns Queens Hospital were placed up for sale earlier this month, the Queens Borough President’s office confirmed, adding insult to injury for the county’s ailing hospital system.
Manhattan−based real estate firm CB Richard Ellis began soliciting bids May 6 for the land where shuttered hospitals St. Johns in Elmhurst and Mary Immaculate in Jamaica sit, opening the door to the possibility that a developer could buy the properties and construct apartments or retail outlets in their place.
“That was the fear from the very beginning,” said Dan Andrews, a spokesman for Borough President Helen Marshall. “That fear has only been heightened.”
It was unclear as of press time when bids for the two large properties were due or how much the land was expected to bring in.
Both sites are zoned for residential development and the St. Johns site, at 90−02 Queens Blvd., includes a commercial component — which could make it attractive to a prospective developer.
“It’s right across the street from Queens Center Mall. There’s 60,000 cars a day that pass it, so there’s certainly a use there,” said Massey Knakal Realty Services Managing Director Tom Donovan, who had previously surveyed the sites for Caritas.
Reach reporter Stephen Stirling by e−mail at sstirling@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 138.
