Chapman U has seized the high ground in the skirmish for bankrupt Crystal Cathedral’s 35-acre campus. The university’s $46-million offer matches the bid of developer Wil Smith’s Newport Beach-based Greenlaw Partners, the proposed buyer in the church’s reorganization plan. But the church’s creditors call the Chapman plan “far superior,” in large part because its leaseback terms would save the ministry $3.5 million over two years. Both suitors would let the church remain as a tenant, an option presumably not available from another interested party, the Diocese of Orange, which would turn the iconic glass structure into a Catholic cathedral. Garden Grove officials also prefer Chapman’s envisioned medical campus for the rest of the property to Greenlaw’s proposed apartments (Kari Hamanaka has more on the front page). Moreover, media savvy Prez Jim Doti has positioned Chapman as a sentimental favorite by embracing Crystal Cathedral’s 84-year-old founder Robert H. Schuller, who reportedly was stripped of his voting power in a feud with the church board. Doti said he and Chapman benefactor George Argyros recently visited with Schuller and his wife Arvella: “We met out of respect for the Schullers to tell them about Chapman’s offer before it was announced publicly…
They could not be more gracious.” Doti said the three men talked about the Horatio Alger Award, an honor they all share with RV king John Crean, a close friend and major donor to Schuller who is buried on the church grounds. “Of course, that gave me an opportunity to tell the Schullers that John’s daughter, Emily Crean Vogler, a Chapman trustee, told me that were her dad alive, he would have been emphatically supportive of the Chapman offer. Watching George and Dr. Schuller interact was like watching a mutual admiration society.” Doti said although the Schullers “seemed positive and appreciative of our offer, I could well understand why they took it under advisement, especially given the complexity of the deal” … After announcing Chapman’s Crystal Cathedral bid, Doti left for a Croatian cruise on Argyros’ yacht. Then he’s off to Prague to hand out diplomas to graduates of Chapman’s MBA program there, to Stuttgart to visit the Porsche Museum and to the Black Forest to run a marathon. He’s back July 27. All in a month’s work …
Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher, Ed Royce and Gary Miller talk foreign policy at a World Affairs Council lunch July 19 at the Hilton OC/Costa Mesa …
OC entrepreneur and philanthropist Safi Qureshey, a native of Pakistan, was one of 45 immigrants featured in Carnegie Corp.’s full-page ad in the July 4 New York Times. Others included USC Prez Max Nikias (born in Cyprus), actor Michael J. Fox (Canada) and ballplayer Albert Pujols (Dominican Republic) …
Speaking of OC immigrant-entrepreneur-philanthropists, Iran native Fariborz Maseeh (now running Newport Beach investment firm Picoco LLC) was named a 2011 Distinguished Graduate of the U of Texas’ Cockrell School of Engineering, the school’s highest alumni award.
