Rudins to Buy St. Vincent's Buildings

The Rudin family has agreed to pay $516 per zoning square foot to take over the eight hospital buildings at Seventh  Avenue and 12th Street that St. Vincent Catholic Medical Centers plan to leave as part of a massive consolidation.       

The hospital announced the deal in preparation for filing for permission from bankruptcy court to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the family, which had won the rights to the site through a year-long bidding process. The revenue from the deal would partially fund a new tower on the site of the O'Toole building on the west side of Seventh Avenue, where the hospital is seeking to consolidate its operations. 

The total price of the property will depend on the success of a zoning change that the hospital is planning on proposing, according to John Gilbert, executive vice president at Rudin Management Co.

Neither Mr. Gilbert nor a spokesman for the hospital would comment on the density that would be requested, saying that would be determined through consultation with the community. (Under the current zoning, according to OasisNYC, an online mapping service, the lot, listed at 92,965 square feet, would yield a modest 225,905-square-foot building of roughly five or six stories, depending on the layout.) In addition to approval from the city Planning Commission, the hospital, which is trying to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings, would need an OK from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.