Legal fees greatly inflate cost of TCH purchase

While the City of Birmingham finalized the purchase of The Community House (TCH) in early July for $5.2 million, the actual cost to city taxpayers was considerably higher thanks to legal fees of over $400,000 paid by the city to the law firm handling court matters related to the community building.

The city, in response to a Freedom of information Act (FOIA) request filed by Downtown Newsmagazine, reported that for the time period of November of 2025 through July 25 of this year, $424,519.10 was paid to or billed by the Varnum legal firm in Birmingham.

The FOIA request asked for all legal fees paid to or billed by the Varnum firm during the specified time period.

Varnum began representing the city when it sued The Community House Association following the announcement that The Community House was being sold in late 2025. The legal firm handled the lawsuit first filed in Oakland County Circuit Court and when the legal skirmish moved to the federal court when the TCH Association filed for bankruptcy this year.

The main issue first laid out in circuit court was whether the TCH Association was violating deed restrictions by selling the iconic building and land on Bates Street in downtown Birmingham.

In terms of legal fees paid by The Community House Association to the Bodman legal firm of Detroit, exact figures were not readily available but an unconfirmed AI assisted search said that approximately $300,000 was paid for defense of the circuit court lawsuit and legal work involved with the filing in federal court. In addition, the association also received considerable pro bono legal defense work, according to association officials.