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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Selleck to Develop Van Nuys Site

Selleck to Develop Van Nuys Site By SHELLY GARCIA Senior Reporter When officials of Northridge Medical Center and its owners Catholic Healthcare West realized they could not meet the financial demands of running the Sherman Way campus they needed a solution that would allow them to sell not only the hospital’s equipment but also the real estate. That’s when the officers of the board of Valley Presbyterian Hospital turned to one of their board members, Dan Selleck, a developer who grew up in the Van Nuys area where the Northridge campus is located. Under a deal currently being hammered out with CHW, Selleck Development Group would acquire the property and redevelop it for residential and retail use. “The hospital didn’t have the financial capability to buy the equipment, land and buildings and the owner was interested in a comprehensive plan that included selling the real estate, so our board leadership approached me to see if I’d be interested in buying the property,” said Selleck. Northridge Medical Center announced last week that it planned to close its Sherman Way campus, although its Northridge facility will remain in operation. Selleck is proposing to redevelop the existing 117,000-square-foot hospital building as an apartment complex and exploring the possibility of using some of the remaining land, which includes about two- and a-half acres now used for parking, for a retail center. Although plans are still very preliminary, Selleck is projecting that the hospital building would likely convert to about 100 apartment units. “As far as the economics, we’re still trying to determine if we can make the numbers work,” said Selleck. “We’re in our due diligence period and evaluating many aspects of the transaction.” Terms of the deal, which has not yet closed, were not disclosed. Selleck Development has done a considerable amount of development in the area. Along with Voit Cos. it built The Plant at Van Nuys Boulevard, a mixed-use retail and industrial complex a few years back, and the two companies are currently in planning stages for another component of that complex, a 27-acre parcel that was not included in the original purchase from General Motors. Selleck said the location of the Sherman Way hospital campus along with the demand for housing in the city makes the site an attractive development opportunity. The hospital campus is situated along a major transit corridor Selleck called one of the two or three busiest streets in the Valley, and there are a number of amenities for residents in the immediate locale, including restaurants, a drug store and a supermarket. Selleck Development has not done residential development previously, and the company could decide to partner with another firm for that component of the project, Selleck said. Neither the apartment complex nor the retail component would require a zoning change. Selleck plans to begin working with city officials and with the community shortly. “I think the seller is anticipating a closure sometime late this year,” he said. “We certainly are going to be meeting with the city and community before the end of the year once we are able to set forth some alternatives for them to look at.”

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