Henry Elghanayan’s Rockrose Development is back to pick up what it left behind at Long Island College Hospital’s former Cobble Hill site.
Rockrose is in contract to buy a Brooklyn city block from an entity tied to LICH and SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, PincusCo reported. The $100 million contract is subject to approval from the New York State Attorney General’s office, due to the nonprofit involved.
The 258,000-square-foot building stretches across four parcels: 363 Hicks Street, 365 Hicks Street, 97 Amity Street and 340 Henry Street. It last traded hands in 2011 for $44.3 million, though the city valued it at $120.7 million in 2022.
A representative from SUNY Downstate did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Real Deal. Rockrose could not be reached.
Less than two years ago, Rockrose bought 91-95 Pacific Street — just north of the latest pending acquisition — from Madison Realty Capital for $65 million. Previous plans at the site called for a condominium project, which Rockrose did not confirm would be in the offing.
There’s been plenty of controversy around the larger LICH holding.
Fortis Property Group sold the Pacific Street site, along with 350 Hicks Street, to Madison Realty in October 2022 to avoid foreclosure. Fortis planned to build two condo buildings with a total of 150 units, most of which would be at the Pacific Street site.
Madison, the project’s lender, initiated a UCC foreclosure on the equity interests in the sites after Fortis defaulted on $47.7 million in debt, but the parties reached a settlement; Madison held onto the Hicks Street site for the time being, but it’s unclear if it’s changed hands since.
Fortis bought the former hospital campus from the State University of New York in 2015 for $240 million after state officials voted to close the hospital, which had been operating for more than 150 years.
Fortis later abandoned plans to rezone the site after failing to come to terms with then-City Council member Brad Lander, who sought robust affordable housing, a school and other community benefits. The developer instead pursued a plan to build a smaller, market-rate project that required no political approval.
Subsequently, Fortis and SUNY accused each other of failing to fulfill their obligations under the 2015 sale. The university system sued Fortis for failing to close on the second phase of the deal. Fortis, in response, said SUNY should have covered costs associated with construction delays, which the developer blamed for holding up 2 River Park.
There are still two active court cases related to the dispute, though they aren’t expected to hold up the sale.
— Holden Walter-Warner
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