Jewish Federation of Detroit is TCH buyer

By David Hohendorf

The Jewish Federation of Detroit has been identified as the potential buyer of The Community House (TCH) on Bates Street in Downtown Birmingham, which is the subject of a court hearing this coming week in the business court division of the Oakland County Circuit Court.

According to several reliable sources, none of whom are directly involved in either organization or the court proceedings, the identity of the potential buyer, which has remained a closely held secret in recent weeks, is expected to be the Jewish Federation of Detroit, considered by many to be the largest Jewish non-profit in the state of Michigan.

The federation, a large umbrella organization for Jewish non-profit groups, has been located in an office building on Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Township since the 1990s. Although its specific plans for the TCH building have not be presented, legal filings in the pending court case have indicated that many of the community uses for the building, including the childhood education center, will be maintained.

Birmingham officials filed a lawsuit in late November after officials with The Community House Association announced that the name of that group would be changing to The Birmingham Area Community Foundation which would continue with the original mission of mentoring and support of other nonprofit groups in the general area. The community foundation announcement also included news that The Community House building would be sold.

The city’s legal challenge is based on deed restrictions created by founding members which stipulate that if the operating group was ever dissolved that the building had to be given to another nonprofit group or rented at a nominal rate to the city. The city has asked the court to halt the sale.

The legal firm representing The Community House Association in Birmingham has requested a hearing for this coming week on its December 23 motion for dismissal of the lawsuit filed by the city, noting that the TCH association is not being dissolved but is simply being renamed. The brief filed by attorney Emily A. Cross of the Bodman law firm representing the association suggested the city has no legal standing in the sale, deed restrictions did not prohibit sale of the building and that the city’s legal challenge could jeopardize a planned February closing on a sale to a “charitable” group interested in the facility.

The brief filed by Cross noted that a “highly respected, highly resourced charity” has offered more than the appraised value of $7,040,000. The legal filing noted that the proposed buyer “understands that it must comply with the deed restrictions” and “even though not required by the deed restrictions, the buyer intends to maintain much of the current use, including the Early Childhood Center, and event and meeting space.”
 The proposed buyer has, according to the Cross brief, offered to provide office space for the Birmingham community foundation at no charge.

The legal filing by The Community House Association asks the court for a quick ruling so that a projected February closing date for the sale can take place, further suggesting that a delay could jeopardize the sale.