Friday, February 6, 2015

Residential Conversion Slated for Mt. Sinai Hospital Buildings

The former Mt. Sinai Hospital in Dickinson Square West, which has been closed since 1997, will be transformed into 235 residences. Both the original 1921 hospital and the addition built in the late 1980s will be reused, according to developer Greenpointe Construction.  

Designed by Barton Partners architects and planners, the proposal includes 198 rental apartments located in the existing buildings, and 37 owner-occupied townhouses.

The project, which would take up the entire block, also includes a restaurant, meeting space, a gym and 157 off-street parking spaces.

The townhouses will be built on former surface parking lots at Fourth & Reed and on Fifth and Dickinson Streets.

Some small existing structures on the block, including a loading dock, would be demolished to make room for the townhouses.

The apartments will consist of 128 one-bedroom units, approximately 600 to 900 square feet, and 47 two-bedroom units, approximately 750 to 1,280 square feet. 

The upper floors of the old hospital will make for some balconies with incredible views.  And the former emergency room entrance, where the restaurant would be located, would make some interesting, pretty amazing commercial space, with 15-foot ceilings.

The project would be built in phases, starting with the townhouses.

Greenpointe has pledged to include some amenities that will benefit the community -- such as street trees and improvements to sewer, water and electric systems -- as part of the first phase.

The commercial portion of the project will begin with a restaurant. Depending on how that goes, other commercial property will be added in the future.

Greenpointe does both new construction and adaptive reuse as opportunities arise. The company built 15 new townhouses and two condos at 12th and Latona. It also built Arrow Swim Club from an old warehouse for Tower Investments and converted an old church on 3rd Street into a tech company's offices.

“It's iconic from its history and its visibility. To be able to reuse what's there and maintain its distinctiveness is great.” said the developer.

The residents in the community have concerns about parking, which has long plagued the neighborhood. Regardless of what happens with the project, parking will continue to be a problem.