TCH has buyer, requests court to nix lawsuit

By David Hohendorf

The legal firm representing The Community House Association in Birmingham has requested a January hearing next week on its December 23 motion for dismissal of the lawsuit filed by the City of Birmingham to stop the sale of the iconic building on Bates Street in the downtown area, suggesting that 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.

Birmingham filed its lawsuit on November 25 and the case was moved from the county circuit court to the business court and assigned to Judge Michael Warren. While Warren rejected a request for an ex parte temporary restraining order, he did not rule out the possibility of an eventual restraining order and injunction once both sides had made their case in court.

The legal challenge by the city is based on its reading of deed restrictions on the property and building, although the 108-page brief filed by attorney Emily A. Cross of the Bodman law firm rejected the city’s argument and noted that the non-profit group scheduled to buy the building has agreed to honor any of the original deed restrictions which would be made a part of the purchase agreement.

The brief filed by Cross noted that the “highly respected, highly resourced charity” has offered more than the appraised value of $7,040,000. The name of the group was not revealed in the legal filing.

According to the Cross brief, 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 legal brief was highly critical of the city’s lawsuit, calling it at one point an example of “government overreach and bad faith interference with the sale.”

Longstanding deed restrictions provide that if The Community House Association was ever dissolved then the building had to be donated to another non-profit group or rented to the city for a nominal sum. Officials of The Community House (TCH) have said that the association is not being dissolved but simply renamed as The Birmingham Area Community Foundation which would continue to carry out the original mission of the association, supporting and mentoring nonprofit groups within a 10-mile radius of Birmingham.

The legal brief also notes that the proposed buyer has offered to allow the community foundation to occupy space in the current building at no charge.

Officials from TCH have noted that proceeds from the sale would be used to retire debt and as seed money for the community foundation.

Earlier statements from TCH officials have said a new owner of the facility would take over effective July 1.