Update: Easter Seal land deal
UPDATE on the proposal to buy the old Easter Seals facility and 10 acres at the east end of Lee Avenue from the state School for the Blind and School for the Deaf:
A straw vote taken by the schools' board Tuesday indicates the proposal is a no-go. They acted after a resident of Hillcrest spoke against the sale, expressing concerns that once the property was in private ownership, it could be developed, despite promises by the would-be buyers that they would not alter the property.
Drs. Leslie Smith and Tad Tillemans, psychiatrists who lease office space in the former Easter Seals facility, wanted to buy the 10 acres and the building for $700,000. Easter Seals head Sharon Moone-Jochums presented the offer to the board; her agency is eager to sell the building, which is outdated and in need of repairs. (Easter Seals only owns the building; it leases the state land beneath it.) Moone-Jochums maintained the land was too steep to develop, but a previous (unsuccessful) bid by a Hillcrest developer would have built condos in the ravine.
President Andrew Tolbert said the board, which voted 4 against, with one abstention from a new member, does not want the schools to lose control of the property. “It’s a critical buffer,” he said. The land is bordered by the Coolwood neighborhood on the north and homes near Knoop Park on the west.
Smith and Tillemans’ Aavalon Clinic is a joint venture with Aavalon Mortgage, which also operates out of the former Easter Seals facility. Tolbert said the board was unaware of the mortgage business.
Comments
What?
Posted by: Deathbyinches | August 16, 2006 12:10 PM
That whole campus is lovely and needs to be kept intact. Good for the Board!
Posted by: ItsWorseThanYouThink | August 16, 2006 12:45 PM
Gee! The item of the Mortgage Company never came up in the meeting yesterday.
Easter Seals wants to -understandably- make money off of a building that was paid for 30 years ago, and has had no upkkep or maintainence invested in it in at least 15 years.
They have a $1 a year lease from the State.
Posted by: Diogenes | August 16, 2006 01:48 PM
Blind School Board is to approve any sub lets Easter Seals arranges. Did these 2 cowboy Docs or the suits at Easter Seals bother to let the State know they "oh by the way" are operating a mortgage company along w/ a shrink clinic??
Be interesting for the Times to look into Avalon Mortgage. Do they mortgage w/ patients?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 16, 2006 02:10 PM
Ha! The mortgage co is so patients can get $$ to pay their psych bills.
Posted by: Anonymous | August 16, 2006 03:06 PM
Who owns Aavalon Mortgage? The Docs, or is it JUST a coincidence that their practice and the business share the name?
Or was the property about to become the Aavalon Strip Mall?
The Docs occupy 2000 sq feet currently, one corner of downstairs. What were their plans for the rest of the property?
Does Easter Seals know?
Posted by: Anonymous | August 16, 2006 04:40 PM