Guttman wins two former Queens hospitals at auction

Brooklyn-based developer and investment group Guttman Realty made the winning bid for the auction of two bankrupt Caritas Healthcare properties, with the aggregate purchase price coming in at $26.63 million.

CB Richard Ellis announced the winning bid today for the two former hospital sites in Queens: the four-acre Mary Immaculate Hospital campus in Jamaica and the two-acre St. John’s Queens Hospital property in Elmhurst.

The buyer has not settled on an official use for the two properties, but is considering transforming the Mary Immaculate site for educational, religious, non-profit or governmental use, and using the St. John’s site as an office building.

Larry Weiss, a CBRE vice president, which represented the seller in the auction, said his firm was happy with the auction’s outcome.

“Despite a weak economy, these development sites sparked a heated and highly competitive bidding process,” Weiss said. “Although driven to sell by a bankruptcy, the excellent central Queens location of these sites… and a dense residential and retail population produced great buyer interest.”

The bankruptcy court was reportedly seeking a minimum bid of $13.5 million for the 275,000-square-foot St. John’s property, which included an 86,400-square-foot garage, and a $4.35 million minimum bid for the 301,400-square-foot Mary Immaculate property. TRD