Old Mercy Hospital, a decrepit, looted eyesore accessible to vandals and four-legged vermin

It’s hard to imagine that the decrepit old Mercy Hospital in District III is salvageable as an office building or a public facility. Much of its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing fixtures — those which have not been looted —  are 60- years old. The bricks and mortar may hold up, but its inner workings have aged and been subjected to the industry of looters who tore open interior walls to get to copper plumbing and electrical wiring.

I’m not certain what the condition of the abandoned, vandalized structure says about Chendo Carranco’s value for a property he has owned for 17 years, but it speaks succinctly about the regard he has for the residents of the surrounding neighborhood for whom the eyesore is part of their daily vista — a vista of negligence and nuisance, unfettered overgrowths of weeds, fences that do not keep out trespassers, and the gaping broken windows that offer harborage to rats, feral cats, birds, and vermin.

That Mr. Carranco is unable or unwilling to maintain his property speaks volumes about his lack of civic pride and his blatant violation of City ordinances.

That the City has let the problem go on for a good part of two decades signals other priorities and an unwillingness to hold the property owner accountable.

Over the last two decades, public entities, including Webb County, Laredo Community College, and the federal government, have contemplated the purchase of the hospital facility and its eight-block campus bordered by Logan, Garfield, Hendricks, and Galveston streets.

When the hospital’s original owners, the Sisters of Mercy of St. Louis, offered it to the County for $7 million in 1997, the then-40-year-old structure had all its windows and doors in place, the utilities were on, copper wire and plumbing were still in the walls, and the structure had a semblance of value and re-use.

Then-Webb County Judge Mercurio Martinez Jr. ordered an acquisition study conducted by Calderon/Solis Associates. The study yielded estimates for renovation, overhead and debt service, and potential lease rates. Renovation costs in 1997 were estimated to be in the realm of $3 million “for minimal or moderate renovation in most areas, extensive remodeling to convert functionally obsolete areas into leasable spaces” — in total a project that would run about $10 million, including the $7 million purchase price.

The study noted gross square footage of 305,240 and divided the property into leasable and non-leasable areas. The leasable areas were about 180,000 square feet. The non-leasable areas included surgery suites, delivery rooms, and x-ray rooms that would require demolition or high dollar re-configuration costs. Also considered un-leasable were the common areas like corridors, lobby areas, foyers, elevators, and stairs.

According to the 1997 study, the building’s mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems were characterized as “being in fairly good condition,” but also indicated that older components and subsystems “showed deterioration due to corrosion, damage, normal aging, and disrepair.”

In 1999 Mercy Hospital administrator Mark Stauder wrote Judge Martinez to advise him that the price on the old hospital had dropped to $1.5 million and that the offer was good for 60 days.

A Mercy Regional Medical Center Counter-Offer Committee was appointed by the Commissioners Court to review the possible transaction.

The committee voted against the purchase, citing:

• The building would be over 40-years-old at possession.
• The $1.8 million renovation costs to replace major equipment.
• Over 50% of major electrical and mechanical subsystems were over 40-years-old (wiring, ducts, etc.) and could not be replaced.
• Parking was marginal; additional parking would require re-zoning.
• Only 30% of office suites were 3,000 square feet. There was a demand for larger suites.
• The trend was for businesses to lease offices to the northeast along McPherson.
• The then-current inventory of new office spaces was higher than the demand.

Fast forward 19 years to the blighted site today that is as accessible to vandals as to four-legged vermin, an ugly monument for how to make neighborhood property values plummet.

In 2017, the hilltop hospital, once considered a marvel by 1950s medical standards, has accrued two more decades of the owner’s neglect, deterioration, and vandalism, and now bears a 60-year date stamp for diminishing viability and use.

An ad hoc citizens committee was appointed by City Council members whose districts are in proximity to the hospital. Those appointees and the Council members who appointed them are Margarita Araiza (District III, Alex Perez); Louis LaVaude (District IV, Albert Torres); Cristobal Rodriguez (District VIII, Roberto BallI); and Frank Saldaña (Mayor Pete Saenz). The liaison between the committee and the City is John Porter, director of the Environmental Services Department.

The committee has yet to convene, but some of the members attended a May 17 town hall meeting at Ryan Elementary School to discuss the fate of the hospital. The meeting bore little fruit, but perhaps future meetings will.

Council member Alex Perez said he hopes that in the year-and-a-half left in his term that a solution will be found for what to do with the hospital property.

According to Perez, the only recent viable potential buyer is a private contractor who would operate a detention facility for undocumented individuals who await deportation. “That didn’t sit well with the neighborhood residents,” Perez said.

The Council member said that a Neighborhood Master Plan that incorporates the Mercy property and surrounding empty medical office buildings in its scope would include input from District III residents.

Perez said that the plan, which goes out for RFQs next week could cost as much as $45,000, a cost his district will share with District IV Council member Albert Torres.

“The plan should reflect what the neighborhood wants so that we try to find an investor acceptable to them. That’s the thinking that goes with that. We would need the owner’s consent and cooperation,” he said.

Perez, who confirmed he had not been inside the building recently, said the hospital was built to withstand hurricanes. He said the interior was “not in good shape,” and that interior walls had been torn out to steal copper plumbing and wiring. “It’s a scary place,” he said.

He said there are several possibilities for the future of the Mercy Hospital campus.

“What we hear the most is that the neighborhood wants a park — tear it down and build a park. A second possibility is to tear it down and leave a blank canvas for an investor who might want to build condos, apartments, stores, and shops, and leave room for parkland. The third option is to help find an investor who would rehab it, but the $30 to $60 million for rehabilitation doesn’t fit into anyone’s business model,” he said.

Olivia Varela, executive director of the Laredo Development Foundation, echoed Perez’s sentiments.

“We feel something needs to be done about it. The LDF has not taken a position on it because it is a private property. We would certainly recommend and suggest bringing the issue of the condition of the building to some sort of resolution because it is blighted and a danger to the neighborhood. We would welcome a project we could send out to investors. It has to make sense for the neighborhood and it has to make sense economically for the investor, something that looks sustainable and  increases the tax base rather than a project that increases maintenance and operation expenses for the city. Nothing viable will happen without a solid financial plan that gives investors a return,” Varela said.

Perez wouldn’t comment on whether or not Carranco had made good faith efforts over the last 17 years to sell the property. He said that the property had been offered to the City at a price between $4 million and $7 million. A Webb CAD listing for Laredo Lomas Property lists the hospital’s value for 2017 at $594,840. Laredo Lomas Property has 16 additional valuations for properties that border the hospital on Garfield, Logan, Guerrero, Galveston, Tilden and Garfield, Hendricks and Mier, Tilden, and Garfield and Hendricks that add up to another $895,620.  The two figures add up to $1,490,460.

Perez said that the building’s deteriorated state on a high hill makes it visible to all Laredo. “We have been very complacent about its appearance and its nuisance status over the years, and what it says about us. It’s not right, and what has gotten us to this point has to change. We can’t change the past, but from here on out, we have to hold Mr. Carranco accountable. The voices of those who want a change are getting louder and cannot be ignored by City government or the owner. This affects hundreds of families,” he continued.

He said that City violations against Carranco “are stacking up” and that he has been advised to mow the high grass, secure the property, and do something about the broken windows.

Perez said the City is acting as a catalyst, a facilitator to make the right thing happen.

“We will do whatever makes economic sense and quality of life sense for the neighborhood,” he continued, adding that if tearing down the building were a first option, something would have to be worked out with the owner and funding would have to be found for demolition and haul away.

Perez expects to host a Town Hall meeting in about eight weeks.

Interim City Manager Horacio de Leon Jr. said the City is involved in the intended future use of the old building by a prospective buyer as it affects the quality of life of the neighborhood residents.

“We are there in the name of economic development and re-development to help incentivize the sale of the property to an interested buyer. We would like for there to be a project that benefits neighboring property owners. The City can re-incentivize development through the Neighborhood Empowerment Zone,” he said.

He clarified that the City has no intention of buying Mercy Hospital.

“Speaking from a budget perspective, the City could not make an outright purchase, and there are probably not enough members of the Council who would vote for such a purchase,” he stressed, adding that in its current state, the degraded hospital campus has “created stagnant, declining property values.”