The land and buildings of the former St. James Mercy Hospital, which was abandoned in 2020 and condemned by the City of Hornell earlier this year, will be auctioned again.
According to the bidding page, Crexi’s online auction will begin at noon on Monday, December 15, with a starting bid of $100,000.
The auction will last for 30 days and the auction listing states that a $10,000 deposit is required to participate.
The old hospital is located at 411 Canisteo Street and occupies 216,329 square feet on nearly seven acres. The property is located in an Opportunity Zone, which provides tax benefits for qualified investments.
Biotek LLC purchased the property at auction in 2021
The former St. James Mercy Hospital at 411 Canisteo Street in Hornell has been vacant since early 2020.
St James Mercy Hospital was originally built as a farmhouse in 1890 and has evolved over the decades. The north wing was added in 1931, followed by the east wing in 1950 and the west wing in 1968. The final addition was a 55,000 square foot addition in 1989.
The facility closed in March 2020 when St. James merged with UR Medicine and relocated to a new $62 million facility on Seneca North Road in Hornellsville.
Biotek LLC purchased the old hospital from Trinity Health at auction in October 2021 for $818,000.
Since then, California’s owners have allowed the old hospital’s condition to deteriorate, neglecting property maintenance issues inside and outside the building while racking up thousands of dollars in unpaid fines and fees, according to city officials.
“They stopped paying taxes a long time ago. I think they were making over $400,000,” Mayor John Buckley told the Public Safety Committee on Thursday, December 11.
The former St. James Mercy Hospital at 411 Canisteo Street in Hornell has been vacant since early 2020.
Steuben County records show the primary hospital site at 411 Canisteo St. has $340,000 in unpaid taxes since 2023. Biotek also acquired a number of other land parcels in 2021. The property at 411 Canisteo St. has a total assessed value of $3 million.
In 2021, a vision was proposed to convert the property into an assisted living facility. Buckley said the city redoubled its efforts to work with Biotek on a development plan for the site, but those efforts went nowhere.
“We tried to use every resource we could to get the project started to redevelop the building,” Buckley said. “Unfortunately, the current owner never took any concrete steps to do anything.
“They talked a lot, but at the end of the day, they never put any money into it.”
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City condemns and preserves old St. James Charity Hospital
The building was condemned by the city of Hornell last month and all entry points have been secured.
The Hornell Code Department noted that five tickets were mailed to property owners last week alone for neglecting snow removal.
City officials will be watching the auction closely, knowing that whether the building is razed or restored in some way, the cost to investors will be millions of dollars.
The former St. James Mercy Hospital at 411 Canisteo Street in Hornell has been vacant since early 2020.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen at the auction or if anyone is going to bid. This has been and will continue to be a high priority for (the city),” Buckley said. “The problem with the city is we don’t have on-site control.
“We can go into a building and say, ‘You don’t have adequate firefighting capabilities, you don’t have these five things, whatever they are,’ and then condemn it. We’ve done what we can.”
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This article originally appeared in the Evening Tribune: Auction of old Hornell St James Charity Hospital to begin December 15