06 16-2005 cle international presentation - modified.

LAND ASSEMBLY TECHNIQUES, EMINENT DOMAIN and

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

VOLUNTARY ASSEMBLIES

Presented by MICHAEL Wm. MORELL, ESQ.

Law Office of Michael Wm. Morell

P.O. Box 6672 West Palm Beach, Florida 33405-6672

el (561) 714-7533 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]�

http://www.floridamusings.com/�

Law Office of Michael Wm. Morell

• Administrative,Governmental & Regulatory Law

• Land Use, Zoning, Planning and Redevelopment Law

• Historical Preservation Law • Elections, Ethics and

Public Disclosure Law

Question:

What is a voluntary land assembly

Common Interest Group?

A voluntary land assembly Common Interest Group is…

• A voluntary organization of • private landowners (no government

officials or sponsorship) who • own property in [describe location]…

within the City of [describe jurisdiction], and who have come together

• For the purpose of exploring whether it is economically and practically feasible to: – maximize the value of all property

located in the assembly area; – through the “self assembly” method of

compiling individual parcels of land; – into a “common” or unified 5.631 acre

block; – for sale to a private developer for

re-development purposes.

It ‘s all about Collective Action!

Map Data

12 Unit

Residential

Condominium

.401 ac

improved

4 Unit Commerical

Medical Office Condominium .459 ac improved

Vacant Lot .069 ac

Real Estate Sales

.043 ac imp.

Home & Office Interior Decorating

Service .245 ac

improved

Multi-office commercial facility .403 ac

improved

Commercial Office .344 ac

improved

Drive-thru Convenience

Store

.191 ac improved

Parking lot for

Multi-office commercial facility

.23 ac

vacant (parking)

Parking lot for

Off-site Restaurant .459 ac

vacant (parking)

Vacant lot .23 ac

Vacant lot .23 ac

Parking lot for

Off-site Restaurant .23 ac

vacant (parking)

Commercial

Strip Shopping Center

1.159 ac

improved

Dry Cleaners .087 ac improved

Parking lot

for

Commercial

Strip

Shopping

Center .23 ac vacant

(parking)

Law Firm .23 ac

improved

Office .23 ac

improved

Office .161 ac

improved

S.E. X Avenue

S. E. Z Street

S.E. Y Avenue

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8

9 10 11 12 7 13

14 15 16 17

18

N block

S block

Block (N + S) = 5.631 Total Acres Red numerals = Parcel numbers

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Slide #2 – Map and Parcel Information with Condo parcel holders

Parcel Data

Owner Data

Question:

What are the stakes in the art of land assembly?

“To get a sense of the values at stake, consider the recent assembly and condemnation of a dozen buildings (housing 55 businesses) on a seedy part of Eighth Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets. New York City is handing over the Times Square site to the New York Times for the “fair market value” (FMV) of $85 million, but based upon several standard valuation methods (including looking to the assembled lot across the street), private developers would pay almost three times the FMV.” The Art of Land Assembly, a draft of an article, January 28, 2004, by Professors Michael A. Heller and Roderick M. Hills, Jr., http://www.law.uchicago.edu/Lawecon/workshop-papers/Heller.pdf

“a $150 million discrepancy”

Presenter

Presentation Notes

In 1978 Penthouse International bought the Holiday Inn and the Four Seasons Motel and announced plans to extend and connect the two hostelries and create a huge casino/hotel. The agents of this lavish sex-and-opulance empire methodically bought the quaint old buildings that separated the two old resort structures. Paying $100,000 to $150,000 for modest homes assessed at $15,000 to $20,000, they had little difficulty in obtaining the deeds they sought until confronted by Vera Coking and Antoinetta Bongiovanni. Mrs. Coking was the owner of a small twenty-two-room hotel called the Sea Shell Guest House, while Mrs. Bongiovanni occupied an even more modest two-story dwelling. Mrs. Bongiovanni flatly refused to sell to the casino interests. She had lived in her diminutive home for twenty-five years, and according to her nephew, Mario Formica, "She just didn't want to move; that's all" (Figure 13). Mrs. Coking was more of a challenge, since she negotiated with the Penthouse people for several months. She later asserted that she had never been offered more than $90,000 for her little guest house, but contemporary accounts reported that she had spurned a proffered $400,000, insisting that she wanted $4 million. When the promise of an ocean-view suite in the new hotel and free meals for the rest of her life in addition to the selling price failed to budge the stubborn woman, the developers gave up (Figure 14). Foundations were then poured and a structural steel framework erected around the house the houses of both Mrs. Coking and Mrs. Bongiovanni. The disruptions caused by the construction work were evidently more than Mrs. Bongiovanni's husband could endure; he died a few months later. Mrs. Coking fared little better, her paying guests being driven away by the incessant noise of the builder's machinery and activity. The city then rubbed salt into her wounds by increasing her tax assessment from $21,000 to $111,000, an action which she fought in the courts without success.

Holdouts don’t always get a “free-ride”

Don’t sell yet, you said.

Hold out, you said.

Demand a higher price, you said.

They can’t build without our property, you said.

Well? Photo courtesy of USF&G Insurance

Yes, they can build without your property

Antoinetta Bongiovanni’s modest two-story dwelling in Atlantic City, New Jersey surrounded by the structural steel framework of the Penthouse International Casino erected around it.

Bongiovanni flatly refused to sell to the casino interests and after living in her dimunitive home for 25 years a family member said: “She just didn’t want to move; that’s all”

The disruptions caused by the construction work were evidently more than Mrs. Bongiovanni’s husband could endure; he died a few months later.

In an ironic twist of fate, the Penthouse Casino was not completed because of the inability of its management to make appropriate financing arrangements.

“She just didn’t want to move; that’s all”

Presenter

Presentation Notes

In 1978 Penthouse International bought the Holiday Inn and the Four Seasons Motel and announced plans to extend and connect the two hostelries and create a huge casino/hotel. The agents of this lavish sex-and-opulance empire methodically bought the quaint old buildings that separated the two old resort structures. Paying $100,000 to $150,000 for modest homes assessed at $15,000 to $20,000, they had little difficulty in obtaining the deeds they sought until confronted by Vera Coking and Antoinetta Bongiovanni. Mrs. Coking was the owner of a small twenty-two-room hotel called the Sea Shell Guest House, while Mrs. Bongiovanni occupied an even more modest two-story dwelling. Mrs. Bongiovanni flatly refused to sell to the casino interests. She had lived in her diminutive home for twenty-five years, and according to her nephew, Mario Formica, "She just didn't want to move; that's all" (Figure 13). Mrs. Coking was more of a challenge, since she negotiated with the Penthouse people for several months. She later asserted that she had never been offered more than $90,000 for her little guest house, but contemporary accounts reported that she had spurned a proffered $400,000, insisting that she wanted $4 million. When the promise of an ocean-view suite in the new hotel and free meals for the rest of her life in addition to the selling price failed to budge the stubborn woman, the developers gave up (Figure 14). Foundations were then poured and a structural steel framework erected around the house the houses of both Mrs. Coking and Mrs. Bongiovanni. The disruptions caused by the construction work were evidently more than Mrs. Bongiovanni's husband could endure; he died a few months later. Mrs. Coking fared little better, her paying guests being driven away by the incessant noise of the builder's machinery and activity. The city then rubbed salt into her wounds by increasing her tax assessment from $21,000 to $111,000, an action which she fought in the courts without success.

On THIS SITE

WILL BE ERECTED

A 32 STORY

LUXURY

APARTMENT

BUILDING

AFTER THE DEMISE

OF THE OLD LADY

A developer’s ultimate patience

Cartoon by Charles Adams, courtesy of The New Yorker

Questions & Answers

06 16-2005 cle international presentation - modified.

Law

Transcript of 06 16-2005 cle international presentation - modified.