Former Traverse City State Hospital Site

Stewards:  Grand Traverse Commons                  Redevelopment Corporation

When the State closed the Traverse City State Hospital in the late 1970's, all buildings were to be demolished and the land sold to the highest bidder.  The community started a grass-roots effort to stop the demolition. City of Traverse City and the Charter Township of Garfield formed the Grand Traverse Commons Redevelopment Corporartion (GTCRC) to oversee the redevelopment of the former Traverse City State Hospital site, pursuant to Public Act 250.  The State of Michigan transferred (with historic covenants) approximately 480 acres of land and vacant buildings to the GTCRC in 1993, and the GTCRC began the process of attracting a developer to the site. The City and Township jurisdiction boundary runs through the center of the property and requires developers to first seek approvals by the GTCRC volunteer Board of Directors, and then by both jurisdictions.  The City and Township also received a portion of the 480 acres to be dedicated as public parkland, never to be developed. The site was designated as a Planned Redevelopment District (PRD) for local zoning purposes, and within that PRD is broken out further into sub-categories such as Medical Campus, Core Campus (mixed-use), Community Services, Wetlands, and Recretional.  Approximately 55 acres of the Core Campus remain, with Building 50 (the former hospital building that encompasses 2.36 acres of land and over 400,000 gross square feet) as the centerpiece.  In addition, 22 acres of the former farm grounds remain, with two beautiful historic barns in the Recreational zoning.

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