Sonoma County has sold land once occupied by various heath care facilities for more than $15 million in an auction.
The winning bid of $15.05 million was made by Las Vegas developer and real estate broker Eddie Haddad, for land on Chanate Road that had been the site of various hospitals since 1876.
Previous attempts failed to sell the 71-acre property, which was declared surplus in 2015, officials said.
The Board of Supervisors will accept the highest, most qualified, responsible bidder or reject all bids at its Nov. 16 meeting. Staff will recommend the board approve the highest responsive, responsible bid, county officials said in a news release.
The property was bought by Sonoma County in 1874 when it was a working farm, according to a county web page about the history of the property.
Hillcrest County Hospital opened two years later for ailing and impoverished residents, in what started a long line of health services-related facilities on the property.
The county built a new hospital on the land in 1936 and in 1939, Oak Knoll Sanitarium (now Norton Behavioral Health Center) was built on the south side of Chanate Road for treatment of tuberculosis patients, funded in large part by the federal Public Works Administration, one of the New Deal programs launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933.
The hospital expanded over the years and was eventually sold to Sutter Health in 1996.
At the end of 2014, Sutter Health vacated the buildings and relocated to a new facility near U.S. Highway 101 and Mark West Springs Road. The county’s former hospital buildings are currently vacant, according to the county website.