Ailing Hospitals Getting New Leases on Life as Condos

Jan. 28, 2016 — Many New York City hospitals are on life support. Every time one gives up the ghost, it seems a developer is ready to convert the building – or the land – into condominium apartments. The former St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village – now known as Greenwich Lane – is one of the most visible examples. The penthouse there was priced at a heart-stopping $29 million.

The latest entry in this trend is Gramercy Square, a $350 million condo complex that will occupy the site of the Cabrini Medical Center, which closed in 2008, the New York Times reports. ( www.nytimes.com/2016/01/24/realestate/from-hospital-to-condo.html?_r=0 )

A troika of real estate interests – Clipper Equity, Chetrit Group and the Read Property Group – are creating 223 condo apartments on the 1.4-acre site by demolishing some of the original buildings, modifying others and adding one new structure. The property extends from East 19th to East 20th Street, between Second and Third Avenues in Manhattan.

The development will include nearly half an acre of landscaping, designed by MPFP. The project’s architect is Woods Bagot. Indoor amenities will include a pool, a golf simulator and a wine room. A bit of country club living right here in the city.