The site has since been redeveloped, reopening in 2002 as The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a social center including shops, restaurants, office space, and residences.

[2] The Northern Michigan Asylum was established in 1881 as demand for a third psychiatric hospital in addition to those in Kalamazoo and Pontiac began to grow.

[2] Lumber baron Perry Hannah, "the father of Traverse City," used his political influence to secure its location in his home town.

In the 1930s three large college-like buildings were constructed near the present site of the Munson Hospital parking deck and the Grand Traverse Pavilions.

Patients were treated through kindness, comfort, pleasure, and beautiful flowers provided year-round by the asylum's own greenhouses and the variety of trees Munson planted on the grounds.

Also, as part of the "work is therapy" philosophy, the asylum provided opportunities for patients to gain a sense of purpose through farming, furniture construction, fruit canning, and other trades that kept the institution fully self-sufficient.

While the hospital was established for the care of the mentally ill, its use expanded during outbreaks of tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria, influenza, and polio.

Their efforts have led to the gradual but successful preservation and re-use of the former Building 50 as part of The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a residential and commercial development.

As of 2014, these buildings and cottages are occupied or being close to completion on the Minervini Groups property of the state hospital.

The Traverse City State Hospital contains multiple buildings located on a large rolling campus.