Nurse training school possible for downtown Modesto site

At long last, Stanislaus County has a conditional agreement to sell the former Medical Arts Building at 17th and G streets in downtown Modesto.

Tuesday, supervisors approved selling the 24,000-square-foot building and nearby parking lots to Dr. Gurpreet Singh for $1 million. The buyer must complete due diligence and secure bank financing before closing the deal.

Singh and other investors developed the adjacent Central Valley Specialty Hospital in the former Modesto City Hospital. The tentative plan is to convert the former county clinic building to an allied health professions school to train nurses and nursing assistants, said Gia Smith, Central Valley’s chief executive officer.

The purchase includes the two-story building, a 23-space parking garage below, and 71 parking spaces on the south side of G. The nursing school would be across 17th Street from the Tower Park senior apartment complex, which is under construction.

The former women’s health center has sat vacant since a restructuring of the county Health Services Agency clinics in 2006. After the county could not find a buyer, it developed plans to renovate the building for a new coroner’s office, but the county decided it was too costly.

Smith said a multimillion-dollar project could convert the building interior to classrooms, a skills lab and offices. The school would train health personnel to work at Central Valley Specialty Hospital or other facilities. In addition, employees at Central Valley could take courses to upgrade their credentials. The private school would charge tuition.

“There are waiting lists at all the colleges,” Smith said. “Also, it’s a morale booster for our staff to further their education.”

The school could start with 20 to 50 students and eventually have capacity for 100-plus students, she said. Obtaining state approvals for the school is expected to take six months to a year.

The agreement with the county allows the buyer to use the parking spaces before the deal closes. Singh would be required to pay the county $5,254 per month for the parking areas if the sale is not completed.

After the county put the building on the market last year, supervisors rejected a $700,000 bid from Singh and $400,000 offer from real estate investor Stephen Endsley in June. Both were far less than the minimum asking price of $1.36 million, prompting the county to continue efforts to sell the property.

This story was originally published April 2, 2015 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Nurse training school possible for downtown Modesto site."