$140M Greystone Reconstruction Proposal Pushed Back by State

Greystone Psychiatric Hospital’s famed Kirkbride Building could be converted into hundreds of luxury apartments complemented by retail facilities and maybe a public park, or even a school.

But the state says the proposal from a Long Island realty company making the $140 million pitch just isn’t good enough.

According to morristowngreen.com, the pitch was made by Alma Realty, which specializes in repurposing broken down or abandoned historical structures, and would have saved the state some $50 million in demolition costs.

A Treasury Department spokesperson said the Kirkbride building’s “advanced deterioration,” among other obstacles, doesn’t make it a viable redevelopment project, no matter the scope, according to the report.

Despite efforts to sustain the Kirkbride Building by a group called Greystone Preservationists, plans to demolish the building are still rolling forward.

The land and buildings have been a controversial issue since Gov. Chris Christie announced plans in late 2011 to remediate and convert Greystone Park in Parsippany. The park includes a sewage treatment plant, wetlands and the original psychiatric hospital, which closed in 2008.

The state's plan had been to demolish the rest of the buildings, despite receiving interest from private groups to redevelop the site.