After leaving his Coney Island developments to the city, developer Joe Sitt has his eye on a new market: college student housing, the New York Post reported.
“Student housing is one of the last real estate asset classes that still remains attractive to lenders,” Swan told the Post.
Sitt, who sold his Coney Island property to the city in November, is reportedly targeting in-debt hospitals — possibly St. Vincent’s Hospital — with plans to convert the space into student housing.
With $700 million of debt, St. Vincent's has been facing closure. It's Greenwich Village location could make it a particularly desirable purchase for Sitt.
According to the Post, Sitt’s staff polled New York University, Columbia University and Pratt Institute among other local colleges. They all expressed need for more affordable housing.
He told the Post he hadn’t ruled out building the student housing on other property he own, but said it's unlikely to be on his the land adjacent to Ikea in Red Hook.