BLOG: Court Decisions
Jersey City Redevelopment Plan Upheld Despite Passage of Time
High rise housing is permitted in City’s Powerhouse Arts District following adoption of amended Redevelopment Plan A neighborhood action group’s argument that a redevelopment plan was wrongly amended was rejected by the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court in a recently published opinion. The neighborhood group filed an action in the Superior Court... Read More
Plainfield Redevelopment Project Upheld on Appeal
Bucking a trend of court decisions striking down redevelopment projects, a New Jersey appellate court has determined that the City of Plainfield may proceed with a redevelopment project in the City because it satisfied criterion (d) under the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law (LRHL), N.J.S.A. 40A:12A-5(d), and due to the “substantial evidence” contained in the... Read More
Owners' Approvals and Improvements Upheld as Relevant in Jury Valuation
A New Jersey appellate court recently rejected an attempt by the the New Jersey School Construction Corporation’s (“NJSCC”) to reverse a trial court judge’s decision permitting the jury to consider evidence of zoning board approvals and property improvements for purposes of determining just compensation at the trial concerning the NJSCC’s condemnation of the owners’ commercial property. The trial... Read More
Appeals Court Denies Relocation Benefits to Bloomfield Property Owner
A New Jersey appellate court affirmed the denial of relocation benefits to a former property owner (Jeanny Sung Koo) in a redevelopment area in the Township of Bloomfield after she signed a lease to relocate to a new location where an initial offer to purchase her property had been made, and negotiations ensued, but the project stalled. The... Read More
Appellate Division Rejects Property Owners' Due Process Claims in Redevelopment Case
A New Jersey appellate court recently rejected certain property owners’ claims that city officials violated their procedural and substantive due process rights by frustrating plaintiffs’ business ventures in connection with a local redevelopment plan and project. In Sandone v. Park, A-6346-07 (App. Div. February 2, 2010), the Appellate Division affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the owners’ complaint challenging... Read More
Discounted Jury Verdict Upheld on Appeal
A New Jersey appellate court recently rejected a property owner’s claim that it was deprived of just compensation because the jury verdict reflected a discount for the cost of environmental remediation on its property. New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation v. Warminster Investments Corporation, et als., Docket No. A-5319-07T15319-07T1. Warminster, the property owner, argued that the jury... Read More
Tenants' Rights Scrutinized in Kearny Redevelopment Taking
A New Jersey appellate court recently analyzed the rights of a tenant who challenged a town’s right to use eminent domain to extinguish its leasehold interest in a municipal redevelopment project. Town of Kearny v. Discount City of Old Bridge, et als, Docket No. A-6220-07T3. In this case, two commercial tenants appealed from trial court... Read More
Property Owner's Challenge to Redevelopment Testing Dismissed as Moot
A New Jersey appellate court dismissed a property owner’s challenge to redevelopment activities in the Town of Kearny on the basis that the appeal was moot. Town of Kearny v. RLR Investments, Inc., Docket No. A-3174-07T2 (read the opinion here). The property owner, RLR Investments, owns and operates a commercial trucking terminal which is located in... Read More
Court Disapproves Averaging of Comparable Sales
A New Jersey appellate court recently held that a trial judge’s practice of averaging comparable sales in fixing the fair market value of real property is an improper valuation practice. In Pansini Custom Design Assocs. v. City of Ocean City, Docket No. A-2003-07T1, the plaintiffs owned a single family residence at the Jersey shore, which was... Read More
New Jersey Supreme Court Confirms Award of Counsel Fees as Mandatory in Abandonment of Condemnation
In a recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision authored by Justice Virginia Long, the Court confirmed the mandatory nature of attorneys’ fees awards in condemnation actions where the condemnor abandons the the taking. Township of West Orange v. 769 Associates, et als, (A-113-07, April 9, 2009). The Supreme Court reversed an Appellate Division ruling that limited... Read More
