Struggling nonprofit plans to sell land near Angel Oak

The land surrounding Charles-ton's two-acre Angel Oak Park on Johns Island would be sold to a real estate developer rather than the city, a move that's part of Sea Island Comprehensive Health Care's latest plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Sea Island is a nonprofit provider of health care services for the rural poor that has fallen into financial hardship since its founding during the Civil Rights era. The organization wants to sell about 40 acres of undeveloped land on its Johns Island campus in order to pay off debts. A deal announced in September called for Charleston to acquire 16 acres of the land for $1 million as part of a larger $3.5 million purchase of the entire 40 acres by Greenville developer Robert S. Small Jr., who also is chairman of the College of Charleston board of trustees. The city's offer was primarily aimed at helping Sea Island emerge from bankruptcy, and City Council's approval of the offer allowed Sea Island to file its reorganization plan in September. The city had hoped the county Park and Recreation Commission would step in later, buy the land around Angel Oak, and take over the park. Instead, higher offers came in for the land, and the rules of bankruptcy dictate that debtors must seek the best price possible for any assets they sell to satisfy creditors. "There's an offer on the table that (Sea Island's) board has tentatively approved to go before the bankruptcy judge," said Keith Waring, an advisor to the organization. "That offer is not one that involves a 16-acre additional tract going to expand Angel Oak Park." J. Ronald Jones Jr., Sea Island's bankruptcy attorney, said he could not disclose the name of the developer who submitted the highest offer until he files the offer in bankruptcy court. Even then, the deal will be subject to higher offers until a judge approves the sale. The land sale is aimed at satisfying most of Sea Island's $5.6 million debt. Government agencies, vendors and employees are among the creditors, with the Internal Revenue Service owed the most. Sea Island has continued to operate during bankruptcy, providing medical and social services to some of the poorest residents of Johns, Wadmalaw, Edisto, James and Yonge's islands, as well as Walterboro and Hollywood. Sea Island owns a nursing home and three medical centers, operates a low-income housing complex for the elderly and provides nutrition and day-care programs. Adelaide Andrews, a lawyer for Charleston who was involved in the earlier proposal to buy Sea Island's land, said the city thought it made a good offer for the property near Angel Oak Park, but the plan was aimed at helping Sea Island emerge from bankruptcy. If selling the land to another party accomplished that, then "by no means is that a bad development," Andrews said. Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission Executive Director Thomas J. O'Rourke said the commission was in discussions with Charleston about taking over the park and paying for the additional land, but never came to an agreement or voted on the issue. "Our original intent was to be good neighbors with Charleston," he said. "It wasn't a parcel we were looking for, or a park we were going after." O'Rourke said the Park and Recreation Commission is not actively trying to put a deal together for the land. Jones said the land immediately surrounding Angel Oak Park is zoned for conservation, so it would be difficult to use it for anything but park expansion. Sea Island's reorganization plan is due for a confirmation hearing before a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge on Thursday. This week, most of Sea Island's creditors voted to endorse the plan.

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