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September 19, 2023

Destruction of Black Neighborhoods

Essence Magazine published a remarkable article in its September 5, 2023 issue, “Why the Destruction of a Black Neighborhood Matters to Me – And Should Matter to Everyone” by Brandi Kellam. The story’s author was a student at Christopher Newport University in Virginia and unearthed the painful history behind the Campus’ location.  The college in a statement acknowledged that the residents of a well-established neighborhood were displaced by decisions made about the location of the university. The Black neighborhood was known as the “Shoe Lane area.” The article states: As… read more

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Posted in Black Neighborhoods, Condemnation, Racial Prejudice
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September 14, 2023

EDPL Section 701

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed an award of $799,627 for reimbursement of legal and appraisal fees pursuant to Section 701 of the Eminent Domain Procedure Law.  The award followed a trial where the City of New York valued the Staten Island vacant land condemned at $611,000.  Goldstein, Rikon, Rikon & Levi, P.C. representing the claimant, Yeshivas Ch’San Sofer, obtained $3,165,513 after trial.  Matter of Oakwood Beach Bluebelt (Yeshivas Ch’San Sofer), ___ AD3d ___ (Sept. 13, 2023). Eminent Domain Procedure Law (EDPL), § 701, was amended to provide that when… read more

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Posted in Attorneys' Fees, Condemnation, Just Compensation
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September 7, 2023

Matter of Huntley Power, LLC v Town of Tonawanda, 2023 WL 3912499

The Fourth Department doesn’t have many condemnation matters before it and is shows.  Huntley Power was a proceeding brought directly in the court to review the determination made by the Town to condemn property that includes a coal-fired electric generating station and water intake structures.  The town held a public hearing on April 25, 2022 and adopted its resolution authorizing the condemnation on July 11, 2022.  But did not publish a synopsis of the “Determination and Finding.”  It was required to do so within 90 days of the public hearing. … read more

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Posted in Challenges to Determination and Findings, Condemnation, Notice, SEQRA
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August 15, 2023

Entrepreneurial Profit

In valuing any property in the course of development, one must add entrepreneurial profit.  The cost approach is used and entrepreneurial incentive is an important element of this valuation method.  It is the incentive an investor has for coordinating the construction of a new project.  Few investors would accept less than an amount necessary to account for the trouble they spent coordinating the construction of a new building. The Dictionary of Real Estate Appraisal defines entrepreneurial profit as (1) a market-derived figure that represents the amount an entrepreneur receives for… read more

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Posted in Appraisal, Condemnation, Entrepreneurial Profit, Valuation of Property in Course of Development
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August 10, 2023

Property in the Course of Development

Since the urban real property market is very dynamic, one finds many properties in the process of being developed or renovated on condemnation. Frequently an owner will be just about to begin efforts to build or in the process of same when a condemnor swoops in to take the parcel. The law is clear that property taken whilst in the process of development, the owner is entitled to recover for the added value of the owner’s efforts.  We call this “entrepreneurial profit.” As New York’s Appellate Division, Second Department stated… read more

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Posted in Condemnation, Development, Entrepreneurial, Profit, Valuation
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July 27, 2023

The Public Trust Doctrine in New York. A Park Is Not A Park Unless It’s Not.

  In 2015, New York’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, decided Matter of Glick v Harvey.[1]  The appeals court affirmed the reversal of a lower court order which enjoined New York University from beginning any construction in connection with its expansion project that would result in any alienation of three parcels of land found by the Court to be public parkland, unless and until the State Legislature authorizes the alienation of any parkland to be impacted by the project.  The decision itself provides very little factual information.  According to… read more

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Posted in Condemnation, Parkland, Public Trust Doctrine, Uncategorized
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July 25, 2023

Federal Funds Now Devoted to Help Undo the Damage to Black Neighborhoods by Urban Renewal

We have previously written how Urban Renewal brought under the Federal Housing Act of 1949 authorized cities to use the power of eminent domain to clear “blighted neighborhoods” for “higher use.”  (See “Urban Renewal, An Assault on Black Neighborhoods, New York Law Journal, February 24, 2023.) African Americans, who were 12% of the population in the US, were five times more likely to be displaced than they should have been given their numbers in the population.  In city after city, highways that were built to appease white suburban commuters, and… read more

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Posted in Blight, Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal
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July 20, 2023

Foreign Buyers Pay More for Real Estate Than Local Buyers.

An interesting article in the Winter 2023 issue of “The Appraisal Journal” written by Drs. Allen, Goodwin and O’Sullivan concluded that foreign buyers pay more for real estate.  The authors studied the condo market in Miami.  Their conclusion validated the generally accepted belief within the real estate industry that local buyers have an advantage from first hand knowledge of real estate people in the community, the neighborhood dynamics and pricing trends. Most people have a handle on what a house is worth.  They know what a house for sale is… read more

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Posted in Foreign Buyers, Local Buyers, Real Estate Customs
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July 18, 2023

You Want a Pipeline? You Know What to Do!

The Wall Street Journal featured an article written by David Harrison titled, “Lost Pipeline a Bitter Pill for Foes.” The story is about the Mountain Valley Pipeline running through West Virginia and Virginia.  It was successfully challenged for over ten years.  The 303-mile, $6.6 billion pipeline running through the two states was a pet project of Senator Joe Manchin who couldn’t line up enough senate votes for his bill despite repeated attempts. Landowners and environmental groups have fought the pipeline since it was first proposed in 2014.  Many landowners also… read more

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Posted in Congress, Eminent Domain, Mountain Valley Pipeline, Pipelines, Sen. Joe Manchin
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June 27, 2023

Who’s in Charge Here: The Province of the Trial Court in a Condemnation Case

New York is one of only three states in the nation that does not allow trial by jury in an eminent domain case.  All claims against the State of New York and certain other state authorities have exclusive jurisdiction in the Court of Claims where, regardless of the nature of the claim, there are no jury trials.  Appropriation claims in the Court of Claims are certainly included and are tried by a Court of Claims Judge.  Other condemnation matters must be tried by a Justice of the Supreme Court.  This… read more

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Posted in Comparable Sales, Eminent Domain, Expert Witness, Province of Trial Court
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