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March 21, 2012
Fresh bid to crack domain rules
Real Estate Weekly
by Sarah Trefethen
Real Estate Weekly let's us know its POV right up front.
Omelets require broken eggs. And building big things in the big city can mean running up against resistance from smaller property owners.
From Lincoln Center to Atlantic Yards, eminent domain has been an essential tool in some of the city’s largest development projects.
Not everyone is so sanguine, however.
Late last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed, by voice vote, a bill that would prevent the use of eminent domain on property to be used for economic development in all but a list of specific cases, including the construction of a road, hospital, airport, or military base.
The bill has been referred to the Senate, where a similar proposal may be considered as an amendment to the larger Transportation Reauthorization bill, according to some observers.
The proposed law could have serious implications for development in New York. In the immediate term, it would bring development of Willet’s Point in Queens to a halt, according to Lisa Bova-Hiatt, deputy chief in Tax & Bankruptcy Litigation Division of the New York City Law Department, where she is in charge of condemnation and eminent domain.
“This bill would hurt urban cities like New York and Chicago and Atlanta the most, where the housing stock is old,” Bova-Hiatt said. “Eminent domain is a vital tool to acquire blighted property, especially when there are holdouts.”
NoLandGrab: These homes demolished to make way for Atlantic Yards were "blighted" the same way property owners who had no interest in moving for a private real estate project are "holdouts."
Posted by eric at March 21, 2012 9:57 AM