Legend has it that the gorgeous central spire at the former Traverse City State Hospital was removed after the government staffers who worked there concocted a plan to convince their superiors that the structure was a major fire hazard.

Their plan, so it’s been said, was to backdoor their way into snazzy, updated office space. About 60 years later, the new central office they were successful in getting is without question the biggest visual drag on Building 50, which serves as the striking centerpiece of the much-celebrated Village at Grand Traverse Commons redevelopment.

But what if what was torn down could be rebuilt, as grand as it was before the wrecking ball did its work? It’s one of many potential happenings at the Commons, which has blossomed into one of Traverse City’s food and cultural hotspots.

Raymond Minervini of the Minervini Group, which owns, developed and continues to develop the Commons, says it’s long been a dream to rebuild the spire. It’s a ways down on the project list due to a variety of constraints and more pressing needs, but provisional steps have been taken, including modifying the site’s master plan to allow just such a project to occur.

City charter rules mean that building it taller than 60 feet would likely require a vote of the people, though Minervini says the design could be kept under 60 feet if necessary to avoid such a necessity.

A new spire could be the location for a luxury hotel, Minervini says. The development group has long tossed about the idea of putting hotel rooms in the large, unrenovated buildings that exist between Red and Silver drives to the immediate southwest of Building 50, but a new spire hotel might be more ideal.

“That way we can have a beautiful, luxury hotel in which the size of those rooms could be designed into that new space rather than having to work with the historic space and the huge variability that would be presented,” he says. “So we’re moving that idea forward, but there’s a lot of work to do on that front.”

What that means is those large undeveloped buildings could be turned into housing of another sort, Minervini says, likely market rate with the possibility of some affordable mixed in. And while those buildings sit in a state of disrepair, they’re not in any danger of passing a point of no return.

“Obviously, when a building is not buttoned up, it's going to suffer some deterioration over time, but none of those buildings are in any worse shape than Building 50 was when we started,” he says. “They were occupied later into the eighties…and there’s nothing in there that can’t be repaired.”

Then there’s the old power plant and adjacent parking lot. Conceptual plans call redevelopment of the plant with “dramatic spaces for mixed use,” along with an adjacent parking garage. Parking has always been an issue at the Commons, Minervini says, and a deck could help alleviate the issue.

“There’s the parking structure idea, and the potential for some commercial uses planted on top of that in what they call a pedestal development,” Minervini says. “So we’re in discussion about new build on top of the parking and then integrating the power plant building’s big box into that use.”

Underway right now is work on Cottage 34, the last in the row of undeveloped buildings that stretches out from Building 50. It will be converted into 27 market-rate condos with the potential for affordable or attainable units.

What once was the Traverse City State Hospital closed in 1989 after more than a century of operations, and the community struggled to find a future for the space. As discussions carried on, the late 19th century buildings continued to fall into disrepair and were in danger of being demolished outright.

The Minervini Group took possession in May of 2002 after presenting a plan to rehabilitate the buildings for residential and commercial uses. Since that time, nearly $125 million has been poured into the main building and those that surround it, creating a campus that’s now buzzing around the clock and calendar.

And while that’s a massive investment, it’s taken two decades to get there.

“We set out to make a mixed-use, walkable neighborhood, and the idea always was do this in phases,” Minervini says. “This was Traverse City’s white elephant, and how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”

They worked south to north across Building 50, completely renovating that structure, while also working on scores of associated buildings. As of now, about 70 percent of the total square footage on the campus has been renovated, Minervini says.

None of it would have been possible without early residential and commercial investors who believed in the vision. Minervini is tremendously grateful to tenants that have been with them through the years.

“We took a leap of faith together with people who bought into this. If those residential buyers or business tenants hadn’t stepped forward, none of this would have come to fruition,” he says.

Many of those very early investors are still there, including Yoga for Health Education (2002), Cuppa Joe (2003), Trattoria Stella (2004), Left Foot Charley and Higher Grounds (both 2007). In all, there are more than 100 business on the campus and almost 300 residential tenants. 

“We are humbled to have so many long-standing tenants, who each in their own way help define the character of The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and make it a special neighborhood.”

Editor's Note: This story is an edited version of one that appeared in the April edition of the Traverse City Business News, The Ticker's sister publication. Be sure to check out the April issue for a wide variety of engaging stories and columns.