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The sign at the entrance decorated for the “Valley Goes Pink,” a breast cancer awareness initiative, in 2015.
DERBY — Griffin Hospital has purchased a former nursing home in west Derby, according to documents distributed Thursday by city/town clerk Marc Garofalo.
Birmingham Health Center, at 210 Chatfield St. near the Derby High School/Middle School campus, closed in 2018 after its owner, Spectrum Health Care, LLC, went into bankruptcy. About 120 people lost their jobs.
A Texas-based business entity called McFarlin GP Invest LP took over the 110-bed facility earlier this year for an undisclosed sum. McFarlin got it when the property went into foreclosure after the bankruptcy.
A deed showing Griffin Hospital as the new owner was filed in the Derby Town Clerk’s office Thursday. The full purchase price is not listed, but the state of Connecticut received $10,250 from a conveyance tax, while Derby received $2,050.
The conveyance tax percentages put the purchase price in the neighborhood of $820,000.
Griffin had already been using the property as parking for its various employees.
The Valley Indy emailed Griffin Hospital Thursday morning questions about the property’s future.
“Given the close proximity of the Birmingham Health Center property to the Griffin Hospital campus and the hospital’s need to acquire adjacent commercial property to support current needs and future growth, Griffin was interested in working with the seller to reach mutually agreeable terms. The hospital is exploring a number of potential future uses for the property,” hospital spokesman Christian Meagher said in an email.
Mayor Rich Dziekan’s office said they are not aware of what Griffin intends to do with the property.
“We are always happy to see Griffin Hospital’s continued success in Derby as they provide great service to our residents and the surrounding towns,” Andrew Baklik, the mayor’s chief of staff, said in an email. “Since this transaction just occurred, we have not had an opportunity to speak with the tax assessor or anyone from Griffin as it relates to the taxes or the intended use of the building, but that will certainly be a priority in the coming days.”
Griffin Hospital, a nonprofit founded in 1909, is the city’s largest employer, with more than 1,500 employees.
The Chatfield Street area has been busy in terms of development.
Earlier this year the city and school district completed a multi-million dollar redevelopment of athletic fields, including a new multi-purpose playing field (funded by a state grant) and an impressive field house and ball field (funded by a philanthropist).
The former VARCA property on Coon Hollow Road, a stone’s throw away from the former nursing home, was sold to a company for $450,000. Carmen DiCenso, the city’s economic development liaison, said contracts on that deal have been signed, and that the two sides are nearing the end of the due diligence period.
Regional Water Authority received approvals for a water storage tank across from VARCA, but that project has been delayed by a lawsuit filed by individuals who oppose the location.
Birmingham Health Center was the third nursing home in the lower Naugatuck Valley to close since 2009. It followed Hilltop Health Center in Ansonia and Marshall Lane Manor in Derby.
Marshall Lane Manor was redeveloped as a dormitory for foreign-born students attending private high schools in the area.
Hilltop Health on Ford Street in Ansonia has remained vacant since closing its doors in 2013.
The property totals about 6 acres and is actually zoned as park land, according to Derby’s zoning map.
The deed filed in the town clerk’s office calls for Griffin to pay the second half real estate taxes due to the city from the Oct. 1, 2018 grand list, “and all other taxes, municipal assessments, water charges, sewer charges …”
