No hair splitting required. Read the Deseret News article again. The money didn't come from donations of any sort. It came from the Church's real estate arm, which is independent in that it's operated as a business, like Deseret Book. The real estate arm developing real estate... Yeah, sounds like that's its job pretty much. Nothing to see here.
The analog would be the Church's football arm (BYU) developing football.
I think the City Creek Center has been a success. Good job by Property Reserve Inc. (the real estate arm). Has BYU football been doing as good a job with its stewardship? If not, then don't go crying for a bailout. Get your house in order. Preferably starting tomorrow in Tennessee.