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March 21, 2001

Non-profit group seeks Building 50

Religious group Project Back to Eden, which looked into buying Sugar Loaf, says it would use property as a training site for missionaries abroad
By BILL O'BRIEN
Record-Eagle staff writer
       TRAVERSE CITY - With negotiations between the Grand Traverse Commons board and a local developer still grinding on, other parties are inquiring about the availability of the former state hospital grounds.
      A non-profit organization based in St. Clair County known as the Project Back to Eden will submit a redevelopment proposal by the end of the month to the Commons board - even though the board already has an exclusive agreement to negotiate with local developer Ray Minervini that runs through April 30.
      The Project Back to Eden is a Christian organization run by Capac businessman Douglas T. Nanney, who looked into buying the Sugar Loaf Resort in Leelanau County late last fall.
      "What we'd like to put there is a community development training facility," Nanney said. The organization would train groups and individuals that would be sent to less-developed nations around the world to assist native people in community development in areas ranging from agriculture to infrastructure.
      Nanney said he first learned of the Commons campus while visiting the area last fall, and recently contacted Commons officials to learn more about the property. He said by using families and other volunteers for much of the renovation work, and grants and donations which he says his group has access to, the rehabilitation of Building 50 and other structures could be done for millions less than other developers have estimated.
      "We're not going to try to sell it or lease it," Nanney said. "We're trying to develop it for our own use."
      But the Commons board is currently prohibited from discussing any other development proposals because of an exclusivity agreement with Minervini. He's been trying to negotiate a pre-development agreement for Subarea 3 at the Commons - which includes massive Building 50 - since last fall.
      Negotiations continued at the Commons board meeting Tuesday, and while the two sides inched closer to an agreement there were still several minor details to be worked out. Minervini wants to commit $1.5 million to put a new roof on Building 50, and then begin work on converting a 20,000 square-foot section into a mix of residential and commercial uses. The rest of the building would be developed in phases.
      Minervini was on the Commons board but submitted his resignation on Friday afternoon. He felt questions about his membership on the board while also negotiating for some of the Commons property - although certainly not a unique situation over the past decade - had become a distraction in the talks.
      "I want everyone to know where we're going," Minervini said Monday. "I don't want them to have any reservations, or suspicions, that there are any questionable dealings going on in the back room."
      "As a developer, I'm wearing one hat," he continued. "I think I can state my case for the preservation of Building 50 more clearly as an independent developer."