By Joshua Rosenau
TRENTON — Capital Health announced almost five years ago that it would move the services of its Mercer Campus to a new facility in Hopewell Township, but with just a few months left until the Bellevue Avenue hospital is closed, redevelopment efforts have yet to yield any new uses for the site.
“We have engaged an individual for the past two years who has reached out to and toured a couple of dozen interested parties through the Mercer County Regional Campus, looking at redevelopment,” Capital Health vice president Dennis Dooley said last week.
“Unfortunately, none of those in this current economic climate really panned out to be financially sustainable unto themselves. We quickly came to the conclusion some months back that this was clearly a property that required far more than just a single redeveloper,” he said.
Still, efforts to find a new use for the 16-acre site continue. Capital Health is paying for a redevelopment zone study to determine “what uses of the building will fit zoning requirements and meet community needs,” as well as which surrounding areas could be part of the zone, Dooley said.
A redevelopment zone designation would allow the city to borrow money and receive grants to fund redevelopment or housing projects.
The city has contracted with the Trenton architecture and development firm Clark Caton Hintz to provide planning services. The firm held a meeting last week where it fielded suggestions from residents.
Octavia Sutphin, a property owner in the area who co-founded the Rutherford Heights Revitalization Group, noted that the new study follows an earlier round of planning for the site.
“When the first planners started, they did a comprehensive plan, and we thought of low to moderate and workforce housing,” she recalled. “Then we thought it would be better if we could find a tenant such as part of Rutgers, or some entity part of higher education. It would really bring the community up.”
Sutphin said she and Ed Hill of the Rutherford Heights Civic Association have tried to voice the concerns of residents near the Mercer Campus who are bracing for the loss of jobs and commercial traffic provided by the hospital. Hill said he is pushing for Capital Health to help market the area.
“One of the things we believe will help get developers in is a façade program done in and around the neighborhood to increase the value,” Hill said.
Capital Health has indicated it would support such a program, he said. Hill also supported the idea of having a college or university such as Rutgers take over the property eventually.
“We are still waiting for them to finish their study and to decide on the designation, and then to market the site to see who would be interested,” Hill said.
The redevelopment plan should be completed within six months, though actual redevelopment will depend “on numerous variables,” said Tamaria Green, a city planning staffer.
Dooley said the Mercer Campus’ acute care services and most outpatient services will move to Hopewell, but a satellite emergency department will remain and parts of the building will be used for office space.
Capital Health is awaiting final approval from the state to transfer its operating license to the new hospital on a 165-acre parcel of property on the east side of Scotch Road in Hopewell Township, between the Interstate 95 interchange and the Merrill Lynch complex.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services required Capital Health to maintain the satellite emergency after the agency assessed the community’s health care needs.
Capital Health expects to receive approval of the transfer this summer and open the Hopewell facility in the fall, Dooley said.
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