Stabilizing a Vacant Urban Hospital Campus Amid Crisis
Confidential 750K sf Central Hospital Complex—Management, Repositioning, Repair
Over Christmas and just before the COVID-19 pandemic began, the owner of a closed and bankrupt hospital operation in Philadelphia called us in to manage its one and one-half block Center City campus, oversee repairs, and analyze any capital needs. The goal was to separate the connected buildings and clarify any costs that might come up in sale negotiations, while maintaining maximum value. Embracing the challenge, we set to work doing the following:
- Triaging systems in the closed campus, including fire protection, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and voice/data/security
- Documenting the state of the building from all angles, using video and drone technology
- Assembling a knowledgeable loyal vendor team on an emergency basis, despite the bankruptcy and previous debts
- Creating capital and operating budgets within the first month
- On two days’ notice, identifying capital and operating costs that would be incurred if the facility were used by the City of Philadelphia as a COVID-19 quarantine center
- Creating a plan to separate buildings and utilities from the neighbor under different ownership to enable sale of properties
- Settling tax accounts with multiple city agencies
- Focusing owner efforts on critical and costly issues to protect life safety and lower overall costs
- Addressing numerous cascading failures and handling the resulting complex insurance claims
- Managing the interaction of critical systems; using MOPS for critical repairs
- Creating a staged capital plan
The Situation Under Control
We completed the above during the beginning days of the COVID pandemic and massive adjacent Black Lives Matter demonstrations. After six months, the 750,000 SF campus was largely stabilized, with further deterioration minimized and the complex ready for sale. At this point, we determined our work was complete.