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NJ Transit v. Franco – Property Owner Verdict Overturned on Appeal
On October 19, 2016, almost seven years after a condemnation action was commenced, the Appellate Division published an opinion reversing an $8,150,000 jury verdict in favor of the property owners from 2013. The pre-condemnation offer of compensation was $934,500. The trial judge also ordered that $1,967,865 be escrowed in the Superior Court Trust Fund to cover... Read More
CRDA Denied Authority to Take – Birnbaum Wins on Reconsideration
On August 5, 2016, Judge Mendez reversed himself issuing an Order holding that the Casino Reinvestment Development Corp.’s condemnation of the Birnbaum property was a “manifest abuse of the eminent domain power” and exceeded CRDA’s statutory authority. Thereby dismissing the case commenced over two years ago. Initially the Court denied the Birnbaum’s challenge to the... Read More
Morristown Booming with Redevelopment
This is kind of an off topic post … but generally fits within the purview of redevelopment. Having grown-up in Colonial Morristown with its historic Green; and National Historic Parks (Washington’s Headquarters and Jockey Hollow), and having returned for the practice of law, I am amazed at the transformation that has occurred over the past... Read More
Court of Claims Awards Leaseholder Awards $170M After Inverse Condemnation Trial
A quick hit – The United States Court of Federal Claims recently awarded two leaseholders over $170M for the taking of their leasehold interests at Dallas Love Field Airport. A full copy of the long opinion is here. The nascence of the claim goes all the way back to construction of the Dallas-Forth Worth International Airport... Read More
Adoption of Rehabilitation Plan in Woodbridge Not A Taking (D.N.J.)
From the United States District Court comes a new opinion from Judge Chesler, but there’s nothing new in the precedent cited denying a property’s owner’s claim of “inverse condemnation.” Simply stated, an inverse condemnation case is a procedure for a property owner to secure just compensation where government has taken private property for public use... Read More
NJ Sports Authority Threatening to Take Municipal Landfill
The NJ Sports and Exposition Authority, which runs the Meadowlands’ Sports Complex; New Jersey’s horsetracks; and now the former New Jersey Meadowlands Commission (itself the successor to the Hackensack Meadowlands Development Commission); recently advised the Town of Kearny that it intends to seize the Keegan Landfill by eminent domain. It appears that NJSEA has... Read More
Relevant Parcel Question on the U.S. Supreme Court Docket for 2016
Last week, the Court granted a cert. petition, which presented the following question: “In a regulatory taking case, does the “parcel as a whole” concept as described in Penn Central Transportation Company v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104, 130-31 (1978), establish a rule that two legally distinct, but commonly owned contiguous parcels, must... Read More
Challenge to Redevelopment Bonds Untimely
The New Jersey Supreme Court recently affirmed dismissal of a property owner’s challenge to a municipal ordinance that authorized issuance of $6.3M in municipal bonds to fund redevelopment of the famous Edison Battery Building in West Orange, N.J. Opinion here. The owner’s group filed their challenge 53 days after final publication of the bond ordinance.... Read More
Citizens and Property Owners Unhappy about Proposed Penn East Pipeline
As reported by Lehigh Valley Live, Penn East submitted its application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in late September to install a gas transmission line that would cross through several New Jersey counties and into Pennsylvania. The new pipeline is part of Penn East’s Southern Reliability Link and would connect with the Williams-Transco... Read More
Grand Central Sues Over Air Rights Taking
In retaliatory fashion, the owner of Grand Central Station has sued the City of New York, et al. because of a recent approval that would allow its neighbor to construct a 1,000 foot high office tower. The New York Times reported on September 28th that the owner “filed a $1.1 billion lawsuit in United States... Read More
