MVHS continues pursuing property-acquisition agreements in downtown-hospital project

UTICA, N.Y. — Six property owners haven’t responded or have indicated they aren’t interested in a property-acquisition agreement associated with the downtown-hospital project in Utica.

That’s according to the Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS), which provided an update Thursday on the ongoing project.

The six property owners are among the 35 property owners representing 72 parcels of land in the project footprint “which are in the process of being transferred,” MVHS said in a news release issued Thursday.

Besides the six that haven’t responded or aren’t interested, 19 property owners have completed or are in the process of completing a signed, purchase-option agreement with MVHS. This group represents 54 percent of the property owners in the project footprint, MVHS said.

In addition, 10 property owners are in active negotiation with MVHS and Syracuse–based Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC (BSK), the law firm handling the property-acquisition process, MVHS said.

The properties don’t include the parcels owned by the City of Utica, per the news release.

MVHS also provided an update on the project “in general,” financing, repurposing the request-for-proposal (RFP), and the New York State Environmental Quality Review (SEQR) process.

Project update

Design meetings between the architectural firm working on the project, New York City–based NBBJ, and MVHS providers and staff continue with a focus on the design and layout of the various rooms in the new hospital.

Crews are constructing mock-rooms at the MVHS New Hartford Medical Office – Crossroads location. Once complete, staff members will use the rooms to help “test” the designs and layouts they’ve come up with to “ensure they work in real-life situations.”

MVHS plans to host “future opportunities” for the community to view the aesthetic facility designs and campus integration, per the release.

Financing

MVHS “recently” signed the phase I grants contract allowing it to use a “portion” of the $300 million state grant for its downtown-hospital project. MVHS signed the contract with the New York State Department of Health, per its news release.

The cost projection for what MVHS is calling the “regional health-care campus” is estimated to be $480 million for a 373-bed, 672,000-square-foot facility. In April 2017, the state awarded MVHS the $300 million “health care facility transformation” grant to create an “integrated health-care delivery system” in Oneida County.

The remaining $180 million will come from MVHS capital, bonds, and fundraising, per the release. Over the past few months, the finance team at MVHS has worked to secure the financing needed to fund the project above what the NYS grant provides.

MVHS said it has selected a bank and is currently working on finalizing the loan agreement. Its news release doesn’t name the bank.

Repurposing RFP

MVHS in July sent out a request-for-proposal (RFP) for the repurposing of the current facilities to six potential companies.

The proposals are due back “at the end of this week” and as of Thursday, MVHS had received three responses. In order to ensure a “comprehensive” evaluation, the repurposing project will look at the potential reuse of all MVHS campuses, including the St. Luke’s, St. Elizabeth, and Faxton campuses.

Based on prior assessments, MVHS previously stated it is likely the Faxton campus will remain open; however Faxton was included in the RFP to ensure that keeping the campus open is the proper course of action. MVHS seeks to select a company to perform the reuse study by the end of September.

SEQR process

The City of Utica Planning Board voted to accept the final scoping document that MVHS presented in July. That document outlines what will be addressed in the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the hospital project. It includes issues identified during the public and agency-review process.

MVHS is now working on a draft EIS to address issues identified in the final scoping document. It is anticipated that the organization will submit the draft EIS to the Utica Planning Board in the fall.

Once the planning board accepts the draft EIS, it’ll schedule a public comment period and hearing to solicit “substantive” comments on the draft EIS. Following the comment period, a final EIS will be prepared, “which accounts for the substantive public and agency input.”

#NoHospitalDowntown

The group calling itself “#NoHospitalDowntown” is opposed to the downtown Utica location for the hospital project.

On its website, www.nohospitaldowntown.com, the group includes a section with at least 30 reasons why it doesn’t like the downtown area for the hospital project.

Jim Brock and Brett Truett are the group’s co-founders.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com