St. John’s University puts Staten Island campus up for sale — with no plans to house migrants

St. John’s University has enactment its scenic Staten Island field connected the marketplace for merchantability — 16.5 acres of premier existent property overlooking New York Harbor that one authorities authoritative cracked could go a “migrant village.”

The Grymes Hill spot apt becomes 1 of the largest parcels connected the marketplace successful New York City.

“It’s a large space. It could go a migrant village,” said 1 government official who tracks existent property listings — lone fractional successful jest.

Mayor Eric Adams’ team has been scouring the metropolis existent property listing for places to structure the influx of thousands of asylum seekers coming from the confederate border.

But the solicitation released by St. John’s and its planetary existent property broker Savills said ideally the extremity is to merchantability the Grymes Hill spot to different acquisition instauration — erstwhile the field closes aft the 2024 outpouring semester .

“With 10 world and administrative buildings, acceptable implicit a picturesque 16.5-acre campus, the spot presents a pre-assembled accidental for an overseas oregon out-of-state acquisition instauration to works a emblem successful New York City, 1 of the United States’ astir fashionable acquisition centers with much than 200 colleges and 1 cardinal assemblage students wrong a 25-mile radius,” Savills said successful the selling transportation obtained by The Post.

St. John’s University has enactment its scenic Staten Island field connected the marketplace for sale.St. John's University

The solicitation promotes the property’s scenic harbor views, its proximity to the Staten Island Expressway, the ferry, and that it’s conscionable 23 minutes from Newark Airport and 32 minutes from JFK International Airport.

The spot is successful an R3-1 portion that permits assemblage installation uses specified arsenic colleges oregon universities, arsenic good arsenic hospitals, aesculapian centers oregon elder surviving facilities, the solicitation said.

But the low-density territory besides allows detached and semi-detached one- and two-family homes. The metropolis is grappling with a dearth of affordable housing, making the tract tantalizing for residential development.

SJU — whose main field is successful the Hillcrest/Jamaica conception of Queens — could easy fetch tens of millions of dollars for the hilly greenish jewel.

St. Francis College successful Brooklyn precocious sold its Brooklyn Heights spot for $160 million.

“Savills—the broker for St. John’s University—has received inquiries from imaginable buyers crossed varied segments that the Staten Island field is zoned for. To date, neither the metropolis nor the authorities has expressed an involvement successful purchasing the property,” said St. John’s spokesperson Brian Browne.

“We person not listed a acquisition terms for the field arsenic we are inactive successful the aboriginal stages of this process. We are assured that Savills volition find the close purchaser for the aboriginal of this spot who volition beryllium a bully neighbour to the surrounding community.”

St. John’s land field was erstwhile floated arsenic a tract for erstwhile President Donald Trump’s library.St. John's University

Elected officials and neighbors to SJU’s island field reason usage of the spot for migrants, oregon adjacent conversion into 1 and 2 household homes.

“We’ve been fixed nary denotation that St. John’s University’s field connected Grymes Hill is being considered for migrant housing, but should that change, remainder assured, we would bash everything successful our powerfulness to marque definite that doesn’t happen,” said Staten Island Borough President.

“No way, nary how.” 

City Hall had nary contiguous comment.

St. John’s land field was erstwhile floated arsenic a tract for erstwhile President Donald Trump’s library.

St. John’s land field opened successful 1971, but it has experienced a dependable diminution successful enrollment. Factors contributing to the driblet see the closure of feeder Catholic precocious schools and an wide simplification successful college-age students.

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the dwindling enrollment.

The field has a capableness for 3,000 but present enrolls astir 800, astir two-thirds less students than successful 2000. Virtually each the courses determination are offered astatine SJU’s main campus.