Hospital secures key parking lot

Sonoma Valley Hospital has extended on improved terms the lease of a lot to replace 44 parking spaces that will be lost to building expansion.

The remodel will begin in the spring of 2012 and be completed in 2013.

The lease deal, which includes a purchase option, covers the parcel of land between Hayes and Fourth Streets, south of the hospital, known as the “South Lot.” The new agreement with North Valley Bank extends the current four-year lease, of which two years remain, to 10 years.

The new agreement, announced by the hospital board of directors Thursday night, also reduces the annual cost and will save $16,000 a year in payments. During the construction period the lease payments will be made from the hospital’s bond funds.
The deal contains an option to purchase the property for a price negotiated down from $4.4 million to $2.5 million, with a bonus of $250,000 if the SVHCD decides to exercise the option in the next five years.

The cost of the option is $250,000, which would be applied against the price of the property, along with a portion of the lease payments, if the property is purchased.

SVHCD representatives emphasized that should the property be considered for purchase at any future time, the permanent use of the land will be subject to hearings in which the stakeholders will have ample opportunity to weigh in with both the city and the SVHCD Board.