The Alta Mira Treatment Center in Sausalito is closed and without a management company, but the property owner expects to have a new team in soon.

The center initially caused a controversy in Sausalito when owner Ray Blatt announced in August 2007 that he was turning the former Alta Mira Hotel and seven surrounding properties into a 48-person state-licensed drug and addiction treatment center.

That caused an uproar in the community, and eventually the city sued, contending Blatt needed to apply for a conditional use permit. That suit was settled earlier this year.

While there was initial concern about the operation, city officials reported no issues in the neighborhood and the center quietly went about its business with the Tennessee-based Foundations Recovery Network running it.

But several weeks ago the Foundations Recovery Network pulled out of the Alta Mira Treatment Center because there was not enough business. The upscale center charged $42,000 to $48,000 a month per client. Counselors at the center treat eating disorders in addition to drug and alcohol addictions.

Now Blatt is looking for a new management team.

"We are replacing the management company," Blatt said. "We are interviewing four or five of them right now. We hope to have it going again with the new management people real soon."

In the meantime Blatt is having some work done on the buildings, including new paint and carpeting. Blatt said the treatment facility hasn't affected the

community the way some feared.

"It's gone pretty smoothly the last couple of years. I think a lot of the fears have subsided," he said.

City officials are aware there will likely be a new operator at the Alta Mira center.

"We have an agreement as long as they keep their operations inside what we agreed upon, and until now the facility has been doing that, and we expect that a new operator will as well," said Adam Politzer, Sausalito's city manager. "We probably will sit down with them once a new operator is chosen and revisit the agreement."

As part of the agreement, the center must: limit treatment to 48 patients at a time; not expand to additional buildings; abide by noise laws; not provide outpatient services; and establish a procedure to respond to any citizen complaints.

The Alta Mira site on and near Bulkley Avenue was developed in the 1880s as a private residence with tennis courts, and later converted to a hotel.

The hotel burned to the ground in December 1926 and was rebuilt. William Wachter purchased the Alta Mira Hotel in 1954 and it became a popular Bay Area spot for weddings and receptions, providing vistas of San Francisco Bay. Mark Prado