Nathan Plummer has abandoned 1870 Pelham Parkway South, the former site of the Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center Florence D’Urso Pavilion. The ongoing economic crisis sank his spanking new senior home, Plummer Pavilion.
Plummer’s defection sent Manhattan property owner Moujan Vahvat scrambling. The building is currently vacant and Vahvat needs to find a replacement. He’s talking with a handful of interested parties; homeless and Section 8 tenants are not in Vahvat’s plans.
“Mr. Plummer is gone,” Drew Tybus, an aid with Vahvat, said. “The market turned against him. We parted amicably. Unfortunately, we’re losing money.”
According to Vahvat, Plummer’s target tenants never showed. In light of the economic crisis, fewer senior citizens are opting for luxurious assisted housing; more are choosing to live with their children.
Just before abandoning the building, Plummer considered low-income housing. Pelham Bay residents reacted with dismay. Vahvat hopes to lodge medical service providers, offer medical student housing and/or accommodate a private school.
“Nothing is set in stone,” Tybus said. “If we were going to make [1870 Pelham Parkway] a homeless shelter, we would have already. Based on who we are speaking to, people shouldn’t be concerned.”
Plummer poured money into the building; it’s designed for seniors, and is super-accessible. It boasts three elevators. Three floors are dedicated to residential units, arranged around common rooms. Two floors contain auxiliary – potential office or medical – space. Vahvat is “hyperactively” hunting for an appropriate tenant, Tybus said.
“We want to give [Vahvat] a chance,” said Vacca.
The building could accommodate a medical services provider like Throggs Neck Urgent Care.
The brouhaha over a nearby parking lot is over, according to Community Board 10 district manager Ken Kearns. Plummer had been renting the lot to commercial vehicles without permission. The city had authorized Plummer to use the lot for Plummer Pavilion clients only.
Pelham Bay Taxpayers president Ed Romeo will lobby the city to build a toddler park at the site, located at Pelham Parkway South and Continental Avenue. Vacca recently asked the Department of Transportation to consider erecting a fence around the lot; graffiti vandals have already made it a target.
