MARLBORO — As The Commons went to press on Tuesday night, Seth Andrew, the cofounder of Democracy Builders and the nonprofit educational organization's executive chair, announced the cancellation of an agreement that would have put the campus under the long-term legal ownership and control of a nonprofit organization from Toronto.
Calling the process of selling the campus to Type 1 Civilization Academy Marlboro Campus LLC “an engagement, then a marriage,” Andrew said that Democracy Builders had invoked protections it had negotiated to halt the proceedings.
The announcement took place during an invitation-only community meeting via Zoom on March 9.
In the meeting, Andrew did not detail any specific reasons for the breakdown of the deal. He said unequivocally that Democracy Builders and Degrees of Freedom would own, operate, and maintain the campus as originally planned.
Type 1 Civilization Academy Marlboro Campus LLC was constituted on Jan. 15 and is owned by a similarly named Canadian nonprofit, Type 1 Civilization Academy Inc., whose registered agent is Olga Stein and which was incorporated in November 2020, according to a cache of documents posted online by the Vermont Attorney General's office in response to a public records request.
The parent corporation is described in a December 2020 purchase-and-sale agreement as a Canadian entity “dedicated to establishing educational programs and promoting a broad integrated conception of human civilization that is open, diverse and prosperous through a series of lectures, exhibitions, and a conference event for the public benefit.” It was incorporated last November.
The same document describes the principal of Type 1, Adrian Stein, as someone who has “extensive business development experience across a large range of industries but wishes to pursue an ambitious pedagogical and educational project revolving around the blockchain technology, digital ecosystems, information theory, 3D printing, and digital manufacturing.”
According to another internal document filed with the AGO, the cancelled agreement would have represented a philanthropic value to the young college of approximately $10.4 million. That figure roughly matches the independent real estate appraisal performed in 2018 for Marlboro College in its preparation to market the campus.
A property transfer for the $2.5 million sale was filed with the town of Marlboro on Jan. 21. So, too, was a $2.5 million mortgage held by Democracy Builders.
The Commons could not determine by press time whether subsequent legal real estate documents have been filed with the town to formally reverse the property transactions recorded in January.