Former hospital building's end could finally be near

As Katherine DeAngelis replaced a broken hinge on her tenant's screen door Wednesday afternoon, there was change all around her small side street in Pennsport.

Around the bend, on Gerritt Street, three men were building two four-story rowhouses. Down the block, "For sale" signs dotted Dickinson Street, where new construction is found throughout the middle-class neighborhood. A backhoe was parked at Sixth Street and Dickinson.

Standing on Wilder Street, she gazed at the former Mount Sinai Hospital, a vacant 12-story building that casts a shadow on two neighborhoods.

"Everyone thinks it's an eyesore," said DeAngelis, 67. "It would be lovely to see restoration.

"Is it holding the neighborhood back?" she continued. "No. Not the slightest."

But after many failed rehabilitation plans over the years, Mount Sinai - a hulking relic on a 6.9-acre lot that spans the entire 400 block of Reed Street - could soon fall.

On Dec. 31, the Department of Licenses and Inspections granted - for the first time - a demolition permit for the site, which reaches to Dickinson, where rowhouses abut its loading dock. It lasts for one year, and with many hurdles to clear, demolition is not guaranteed.

New developers have assumed control of the plans. They are to unveil them next week in a meeting with neighborhood leaders.

"There is a lot of mixed reaction," said Ted Savage, president of the Dickinson Square West Civic Association. "A lot of people are in horror that that building would be torn down. But I understand the practical difficulties."

Developers have presented at least a dozen plans for Mount Sinai since its closing in 1997, said James Moylan, president of the Pennsport Civic Association. All have involved rehabilitating the building. That is why, he said, all have failed.

Last April, a project proposed by Greenpointe Construction gained zoning approval for 235 residences on the site. It fizzled. So, too, did a proposal for 201 condominiums and 27 townhouses by a Manhattan developer in 2006.

The owner of Greenpointe, Gagan Lakhmna, said Wednesday that he was out of the country and could not answer questions. His project sought historic tax credits to renovate the main building; that would have required a National Park Service review. That never happened.

The Concordia Group, a Maryland-based developer, will create the next plan, Moylan said. Concordia officials did not return requests for comment.

"New projects are sucking up every piece of ground," Moylan said. "What you don't want is a big, empty dead zone in the middle of the neighborhood."

City Councilman Mark Squilla, who represents the district, called the latest project "new and exciting" for the area.

He said this plan would be better received by neighbors because it could include just townhouses - no apartments - which means less density.

"Eventually, it's going to get developed," Squilla said. "It's a pretty hot market right now. We're getting a lot of interest in developers who come down there."

Property values in Pennsport and West Dickinson Square have soared as development in Queen Village has stretched southward. Savage said the area has thrived in spite of Mount Sinai.

The vacant property, ringed by a chain-link fence, has not attracted crime, Savage said.

The 1930-era building with Art Deco touches is secured and maintained by the current owner, Mount Sinai Partners L.P., based in Chester Springs.

The partnership paid $700,000 for the property in 2002. The site is now listed for $8 million by M.S. Fox Real Estate Group.

Calls to the partnership were not returned.

Anthony Falcone, the listing agent, said, "Hopefully, it will change hands."

He said it was too soon to speculate but the demolition permit is a sign of the optimism about the newest proposal's viability.

Brian Kron, an optometrist who worked at Mount Sinai in the 1970s and opened his own practice next door on South Fifth Street in 1980, sees the demolition as a necessary evil.

"In the long run, it'll be an improvement for the neighborhood," he said. "There's no question about it. This area is becoming the next Queen Village."

His receptionist, Katherine Dougherty, said some of the building's cornices have collapsed.

"You have to be careful if you park there," she said.

"Eventually," Kron said, "it will become a dangerous building if they don't do something with it."

DeAngelis said a Mount Sinai doctor used to own her house on Fourth Street. She studied the history of the hospital, one that was tied decades ago to a strong Jewish neighborhood. That, like the graffiti-coated building, has all changed.

"It would be lovely," she said, "to see restoration."

215-854-2928 @MattGelb