UPDATED 02-06-2010 05:30 PM

An 11 acre parcel of former farm land at 32 Toppans Lane is under option by Port Healthcare Center, which wants to move its facility from its current location on Low Street, but there are issues that may prevent the deal going through.

Jeff Gangi, the administrator at Port Healthcare, said the plans are ultimately to move the facility from the corner of Low and Hale streets, whether or not the purchase of the 11 acres goes through. Gangi said there are “pending issues” with the purchase.

Gangi said: “We have [the land] under option.” He said the plans are for a new facility on Wallace Bashaw Jr. Way opposite the Newburyport Medical Center, the new cancer treatment center off Low Street. Gangi said: “It would complement what’s already there.”

But the pending issues could include a future Port Healthcare facility using the private road Wallace Bashaw Jr. Way that runs from Low Street to Anna Jaques Hospital and possible parking issues. The road is owned by Anna Jaques Hospital and Murphy McManus, developers of the Newburyport Medical Center, according to city sources. Holaday said Anna Jaques does not have the funds to expand and had an agreement with the older, now deceased Rindler family members to further the "long-standing interests of the hospital." Murphy McManus is looking for some reimbursement for the access road and retaining wall the company paid for.

Holaday said that she had a meeting on Feb. 2 with “the players” involved in the deal and she thinks there is common ground. Holaday said: “It’s a matter of where they can compromise, if needed.” She added that all the parties have their own interests that need to be addressed. Holaday said: "It will take some effort to make this work for all the parties but this is a priority for me because I want this to happen."

A concern for the city a year ago when a developer presented plans to develop the Toppans Lane parcel was preserving as much green space as possible. Great Woods Post and Beam Company submitted plans to the city to build 20 single-family homes on the Toppans Lane property. Part of the deal with Great Woods was a land swap with Anna Jaques Hospital. The land abuts the hospital’s parking lot. Anna Jaques would have received 1.6 acres of land in return for 0.8 acres it owns that the hospital cannot use and would have been used for access to the development.  The city’s Planning Board (on April 17, 2009) unanimously rejected the plans for the subdivision.

Gangi said as far as he knows, there is no similar land swap deal on the table with Anna Jaques. Gangi said: “We have a long-standing relationship with the hospital but that is not part of the project.” The hospital did not respond to queries regarding possible issues between the hospital and Port Healthcare.

Port Healthcare Center, a 100-bed skilled nursing center that provides subacute care and rehabilitative services as well as long-term care placement, is owned by the Whittier Health Network. The benefits to the city of Port Healthcare, also known as Port Rehab, staying in the city and building a new facility here are tax revenue for new growth, long-term tax benefits on a larger facility and growth around the hospital. Mayor Donna Holaday said: “I would really love for them to stay – it would be a great loss to the city.”

Holaday is looking into the possibility of the city buying Port Healthcare's current building for use as a senior citizens complex, including a senior center. The facility’s existing 85,813 square foot, three-level building was constructed in 1969. Port Healthcare has been there since 1982. The fiscal year 2009 assessed value of the building alone is $2,488,800. The parking lot is a separate parcel of 155,588 square feet with an assessed value of $451,600. Port Healthcare cannot expand the building or construct a new facility on the site while the old building is still standing because of surrounding wetlands.

Holaday said she thinks a senior center could go on the ground level, which is built into a hill, with an assisted living facility on the second floor that faces Low Street and affordable housing on the third level. Holaday said: “There could be really nice apartments on the third floor.” Holaday said it is much easier to get loans and grants for affordable housing than for a senior center. (Read reactions to the mayor’s plan.)

Both former mayors Mary Anne Clancy and John Moak considered the building as a location for the city’s senior citizens center. Last year the City Council settled on Cushing Park on Kent Street as the location for building a senior center. The estimated cost for permitting and constructing a building at Cushing Park is $7 million.

The parcel on Toppans Lane was once the Rindler family farm. The land runs from Toppans Lane to Wallace Bashaw Jr. Way. A new facility would allow Port Healthcare to expand from 100 to 140 beds and Gangi added: “Newburyport deserves a new health care facility. It’s time for a new facility with all the bells and whistles.”

The new location would also be closer to the hospital and would enhance access to physicians and services, Gangi said. He added that it is harder and harder to meet state regulations at the current building - although they do manage to do it – because of the age of the building.