Bobkiewicz said that the Creditors Committee also deserves thanks “from Santa Paula, in being willing to craft such a creative deal in order to satisfy their needs and also to make sure that the community gets back their hospital. Thanks to the creditors, the County of Ventura and Comstock Homes, Santa Paula is on the verge of doing what very few communities in the country have done: reopen a closed hospital” to once again provide critical healthcare to the 60,000 residents of the Santa Clara River Valley.Creditors Committee attorney Alan Stomel said that the deal, although lower than the initial bid, remains a good one. The sale of the land was done without “having to pay a broker, which saved at least $500,000, which will now go to creditors.” Comstock paid a $500,000 nonrefundable deposit on the property.Stomel noted that the committee’s real estate consultant, Kevin Leonard of Healthwest Realty Advisors, was “instrumental in putting together a strategy which exposed the property to every major residential developer in Southern California, as well as a bidding process which maximized the price.” In addition, the committee was able to “bring together every party, the city, county, creditors, developers and the community, to forge an alliance all working toward the common goal of paying off the millions of dollars in debt incurred by the hospital board and getting the hospital reopened. We did so without any help from the SPMH board; on the contrary, we did it in the face of constant board opposition. We did it by opening the lines of communication, by forging a consensus where before there was only contentiousness.”The Creditors Committee has an April 6 date in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, where they expect Judge Robin Riblet to approve their organization plan. Creditors have until March 26 to return their ballots on the plan. Total Santa Paula Memorial Hospital debt is expected to hit around $15 million.Centex Homes, which is proposing a 2,150 home development in Fagan Canyon, had also bid on the SPMH property. Rick Bianchi of Centex said the company decided not to pursue the SPMH property, to “keep our eye on the big ball, Fagan Canyon. We decided to give Comstock a free rein so they work on that site…we heard Comstock was going to make a good offer that will help get the hospital open again and we decided to let it go.”Bianchi noted that Comstock excels at high quality infill projects: “This is right up their alley. We’re thrilled that their deal is going through and will contribute to the hospital reopening and we can concentrate on Fagan Canyon.”
Comstock Homes pays $10.6 million for SPMH property
March 18, 2005
Santa Paula News
Comstock Homes of Manhattan Beach remained at the top of the bidders for about 16 acres of vacant Santa Paula Memorial Hospital property, locking in at $10.6 million as of Tuesday’s deadline.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesComstock Homes of Manhattan Beach remained at the top of the bidders for about 16 acres of vacant Santa Paula Memorial Hospital property, locking in at $10.6 million as of Tuesday’s deadline. The sale of the property brings the reopening of SPMH closer in an action that the attorney for the Creditors Committee said resulted from consensus and not contention.Comstock had initially bid $13.1 million at the November Creditors Committee auction, but revised the amount they would pay to purchase the land after finding that about a third of the property was not suited for development. The remaining 10 acres fetched about $1 million per acre.More than a property sale, “Today marks another milestone toward the reopening of SPMH,” shuttered since December 2003, said City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz. “Now that Comstock has been awarded the right to purchase the remaining hospital property, the city and Comstock can conclude its discussions on a development agreement” and work through the approval process.Comstock Homes is planning to build luxury homes on the site, which overlooks the Santa Clara River Valley. Bobkiewicz noted that Comstock Homes “has an excellent reputation as a home builder throughout Southern California. Santa Paula is fortunate that a developer of such a high-caliber will be working to bring a new neighborhood to the city.”More importantly, the purchase of the land “secures the fate of SPMH and paves the way for the County of Ventura to reopen the hospital over the next several months” as an arm of the Ventura County Medical Center. The county has agreed to purchase the hospital campus for $2.75 million.
