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Archive | Highest and Best Use

May 5, 2022

Paying Big Bucks in Colorado – No Sheep

The Town of Vail wants to protect its bighorn sheep.  It seems two were recently struck by vehicles. Meanwhile, the toney Vail resort wants to build workforce housing on land that it owns in East Vail, but the Town is not in favor. What to do?  Well, condemn the 23 acres to prevent any development.  This is not the first ski resort condemnation.  Telluride stopped development.  Telluride condemned 572 acres to block development of proposed luxury homes.  The Town offered the developer $26 million.  The developer wanted $51 million.  A… read more

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Posted in Bighorn Sheep, Highest and Best Use, Vail
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November 2, 2021

Prior Takings as Creating Collateral Estoppel – Not So Fast!

What happens when property was condemned and the condemnor raises its ugly head to condemn again at a later time?  It happened once upon a time in Queens.  In 1979, the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) acquired an easement for the purpose of routing a New York City Subway tunnel through a portion of 26-29 Northern Boulevard, Long Island City.  The parcel was vacant land and consisted of 130,293 square feet.  The property was owned by Peerless Weighing and Vending Machine Corp.  Now, a separate blog can be written about Peerless. … read more

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Posted in Collateral Estoppel, Highest and Best Use, Partial Takings
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September 21, 2021

Matter of City of New York (Eman Realty Corp.) – Whatever Happened to the Rule of Highest and Best Use?

The City of New York condemned a multifamily building in Brooklyn.  The property was subject to rent stabilization and both experts found the highest and best use was for continued use as a multifamily dwelling complex.  Both appraisers used the sales comparison (market) approach to valuation.  Then the valuation process went screwy.  The City made a massive deduction for alleged critical repairs on the subject property and applied an Akerson format capitalization formula which accounts for both the cost and availability of mortgage financing.  An approach never used in valuing… read more

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Posted in Highest and Best Use, Measure of Damages, Reasonable Probability of Use
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January 26, 2021

Condemning a Golf Club? Not So Fast – It’s Worth More Than You Think.

When a town condemns a country club to continue its use as a golf course, it may have bitten off more than the taxpayers can chew. The law in New York and elsewhere in our country is that the Constitution requires the payment of just compensation, It is the general rule that “just compensation” is the fair market value of the property at the date of the taking, Matter of Board of Water Supply of City of New York, 277 NY 452 (1938); County of Erie v Fridenberg, 221 NY… read more

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Posted in Country Club, Golf Course, Highest and Best Use
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January 14, 2020

Creative Approaches to Solving Difficult Appraisal Problems

          We start any evaluation of a parcel which has been taken by the exercise of eminent domain by the application of the overriding principal of the concept of highest and best use.           The concept of highest and best use is well founded in appraisal practice.  Regardless of whether property has been condemned, in valuing any parcel of real estate an appraiser must make a highest and best use of the land analysis as though the property were vacant and as though it were improved.  This is an essential… read more

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Posted in Highest and Best Use, Uncategorized, Unusual Land
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