Columbus Regional Health plans to sell off a number of residential properties near the hospital.
They include several homes immediately east of the current CRH campus in the Circle Terrace subdivision, west of Midway Street.
Columbus Regional officials received permission Monday from the Bartholomew County commissioners to declare the first of what will likely be several homes as surplus properties. While most of these Circle Terrace houses were purchased by CRH around 2016, a few were bought as late as 2019 – and at least one was purchased a short time after the June 2008 flood, according to online property records.
Most were purchased as part of a master plan developed by Columbus Regional Health more than six years ago, said David Lenart, director of facilities and materials for the hospital. At that time, CRH was considering expanding its current campus along 17th, 18th and 19th streets, as well as along Midway Street.
But the 2008 flood that eventually closed the hospital and caused near $180 million in damage resulted in revisions to flood map planning, Lenart said.
Revisions not only indicated a higher level of flood risk for some of the hospital’s land and facilities, but a new level of flood risk on adjacent properties, Columbus Regional spokeswoman Kelsey DeClue said.
"We pivoted our focus to where we started to look at (FairOaks Mall) and areas out west," Lenart told the commissioners. "Any expansion at the current campus is not part of our short-term or mid-term plans."
The residence approved for sale Monday, located at 2691 19th St., already has a buyer, CRH attorney Cindy Boll said. The 1,371 square foot, one-story brick home built in 1993 was recently assessed at $153,600 — up substantially from the $107,100 when the hospital purchased the house, according to online county property records.
There will likely be a total of 13 properties to come before the commissioners to be declared surplus property, commissioner’s Chairman Larry Kleinhenz said.
All of these properties have served as rental properties, and existing tenants will be given the option of buying the house over the course of a year, DeClue said.
"Your timing for liquidating these properties is really good, because the real estate market is really hot," Kleinhenz told Boll and Lenart.
Five CRH-owned residences located along 19th Street show nearly an $30,000 average increase per home in assessed value this year, compared to the year they were purchased by the hospital board. However, the selling price is frequently higher than the assessed value.
Whatever money is raised through these property sales are expected to be placed back into the CRH Capitol Fund, which can be used for multiple purposes ranging from property development to medical equipment upgrades, DeClue said.
"It’s for any reinvestment into the system," DeClue said.
Columbus Regional Health and its holding company, Southeastern Indiana Medical Holdings Inc., has made several investments in recent years. In 2018, the company agreed to pay $11 million to acquire 800 acres of farmland near Garden City. That same year, CRH contributed $1.3 million into a joint venture with the city of Columbus to obtain FairOaks Mall.
One year earlier, the organization paid $3.3 million for 1.7 acres off Goeller Boulevard that included the Tipton Lakes Health Club. The holding company also agreed to pay $4.5 million for the former Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Jonathan Moore Pike. The building, which sustained major flood damage in 2008, was eventually demolished.
Since the hospital is county-owned, the Columbus Regional board does have extra steps to sell property. First, they have a required formal process to determine whether or not it is appropriate to sell one of their properties, Boll said.
If the county commissioners agree to declare the house surplus property, a legal notice must be published at least seven days before the closing of the sale, Boll said.
