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 court found that there was no evidence of bad faith on the part of the property owners, who continued developing their property after receiving a “Notice of Interest” letter from the NJSCC that it may be interested in acquiring the property in the future.  The Appellate Division agreed that the NOI letter failed to provide evidence of any definite plans or an imminent intent to take the property through eminent domain which required the property owners to abandon construction of its building or inform the board of adjustment of the NJSCC’s plans.  Thus, the trial court’s decisions were affirmed.

 A copy of the Appellate Division’s opinion in New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation v. Lopez, __ N.J. Super. __ (App. Div. 2010), can be found here.  

The author wishes to acknowledge the assistance of Cory K. Kestner, Esq., of McKirdy & Riskin, PA, in the preparation of this article.