Demo Permits Pulled for the “Divine Lorraine of South Philadelphia”
via Google Street View
There’s a new twist in the long development saga that is Mt. Sinai Hospital in the Pennsport/Dickinson Square West area. PlanPhilly’s Jared Brey reports that demolition permits have been pulled for the hulking building at 4th and Reed Street:
Apparently any plan to repurpose the existing building has been dropped: on New Year’s Eve, the owners pulled a permit to completely demolish the hospital to create a vacant lot.
As you may recall, developer Greenpointe Construction was given the green light to convert the vacant hospital into apartments and surround it with townhomes to activate the street. Those plans have fallen through and Concordia Group out of Bethesda, Maryland is in the process of taking ownership of the property. Dr. James Moylan, president of the Pennsport Civic Association, mentioned that he’s still waiting for full details about the actual plans and that the demolition permit is “pretty much all we know right now.”
Mt. Sinai has sat vacant for the better part of two decades and Moylan recalls upwards of 15 proposals have come through the pipeline in that timeframe–all planning to reuse the hospital building in some way. “I’m hoping it’s a positive sign to something good happening at this site, instead of having this cordoned-off dead zone in the neighborhood.”
The demolition permit was granted on December 31st, but it’s unclear when (or if) the building will actually be razed. Much was made when Cedar Realty pulled a permit in 2012 to demolish Engine 46–a long vacant firehouse-turned-restaurant just four blocks east of Mt. Sinai at the Riverview complex. Nearly 18 months later, the building still stands and no plans for redevelopment or demolition have been made at this time.
• Reuse plans scuttled, Mt. Sinai Hospital in Pennsport to be demolished [PlanPhilly]
