See Staten Island’s neglected Sea View hospital before its transformation

As the plan to convert Staten Island’s massive Sea View campus moves forward, the city’s Economic Development Corporation has released a drone video giving us an overview of the expansive, lush site before a developer converts it.

Back in August 2016, the city announced its intention to transform the now largely neglected hospital campus in central Staten Island into a health-focused development that will have a residential component along with farm-to-table restaurants, and landscaping that promotes physical activity.

A few months after the announcement, the city formally issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) on December 14, 2016 to solicit ideas to redevelop the campus.

“The Sea View campus is once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this borough to build a modern community, one that will improve the quality of life of thousands of Staten Islanders,” Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen said in a statement. “The future Sea View Healthy Community will promote healthy lifestyles, offer homes, retail and community space, and also medical facilities aimed at preventing and even curing devastating chronic illnesses that touch millions of American families.”

Glen is touring the campus Friday along with Staten Island Borough President James Oddo. His office was also instrumental in moving this project forward.

In the coming months we’ll learn more about proposals seeking to transform this 80-acre property, which comes with an additional 180 acres of parkland. An undetermined part of the residential component here will be affordable, and the abundance of open space here is “designed to prevent illnesses and promote healthy lifestyles.”

The hospital at the site opened in 1913 as The Sea View Tuberculosis Hospital, and its closeness to the sea, and the fresh air in the area were considered the best therapy at the time. At its height, it served more than 2,000 patients. Operations at the campus began to wind down in 1950s.

Currently a little less than half the structures on the campus are in use. The deadline for the RFEI is March 31 this year, and the city expects to announce a plan to move forward either by the year’s end or early next year.

• Staten Island’s neglected Seaview Hospital slated for major redevelopment [Curbed]