Public Power
A Supreme Court ruling leaves property owners with few options. Apartment owners already worry about local governments that want to take over or tear down their properties. And, given the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling supporting the government’s right to condemn private property through eminent domain, such pressures won’t disappear any time soon.
Sometimes local officials target criminal hotspots. Earlier this year, officials in Prince George’s County, Md., researched which properties had the most crime, code violations, and violence. Jack Johnson, the county executive, declared that Prince George’s County would “take over” the properties if they weren’t cleaned up. Eventually, apartment owners met with the county to develop plans for improvement. (“It was never about taking over the building and knocking it down,” says John Erzen, a spokesman for Johnson.)
Other times, local governments want to demolish functional units for new retail, commercial buildings, or more expensive housing. “The basic message is usually that this new thing will be better and spiffier and produce more in taxes,” says Dana Berliner, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice, a legal organization that works to protect property rights.
If a property is in the government’s path, an owner can push the case into the public forum by questioning the viability, expense, and location of the proposed project. “If an owner finds out [his or her] building is in the path of project, their real recourse is political,” says Paul Kiernan, an attorney with Holland & Knight’s real estate litigation group.
–Les Shaver