Caritas hospitals up for auction 10/16

Photo by Pat Cotillo, Jr.

Crain's reports that Mary Immaculate and St. John's Queens Hospital will be offered at auction October 16:

Each site will be auctioned separately. The starting bid for St. John's and Mary Immaculate is $13.5 million and $4.35 million, respectively.

Both sites are zoned for residential and/or commercial use. The successful bidder of the properties will be able to do what they want with the properties as long as it is within zoning rules.

CUNY's Interactive Journalism blog takes one last look inside Mary Immaculate:

If you look past the piles of garbage, the torn window shades, and the broken furniture, it’s easy to imagine the millions of patients this hospital has treated over the decades, and the old nuns and priests roaming the halls. As we walked down the hallway to the hospital’s chapel, Ed paused to point out the rings of rust on the cream-colored walls. That’s where I hung the old historical photos, he said, shaking his head.

Many civic leaders I’ve spoken to point out that the hospital sits on the most prime real estate in Jamaica—overlooking the sprawling green lawns of Rufus King Park. They think it’s going to be turned into luxury apartments.

And I get the same impression.