Schools Development Authority Considering Selling “Surplus” Eminent Domain Properties

 The New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA), formerly the Schools Construction Corporation (SCC), recently answered questions from a joint legislative committee on what the SDA plans to do with the 160 properties purchased for projects that are no longer on the agency’s priority list.  The properties are being evaluated by the SDA to determine if any are “surplus,” and could potentially be sold to recover the costs of the potential projects.  The SDA stressed, however, that any discussions of proposed sales are tentative.  Many of the properties were acquired through eminent domain for schools, are now sitting vacant across the state, and costing millions of dollars to purchase and hundreds of thousands to maintain.  For a PDF list of the properties discussed, click here.

For more on this story, please see “Is the SDA Getting Back into the Real Estate Business?” on NJSpotlight.com.

The SDA and its predecessor SCC have long been the subject of reports regarding their  fiscal condition.  For more information on the SDA’s past activities, please see the following:

 $187 Million Public School, Under a Cloud in New Jersey, New York Times

 Agency Building New Jersey Schools Says Funds Are Too Low for All Projects, New York Times

 Despite Tight Economy, New Jersey Presses On With School Projects, New York Times

 For prior blog posts about the SDA’s eminent domain activities, please see the following:

 Owners’ Approvals and Improvements Upheld as Relevant in Jury Valuation

 $6.5 Million Recovered to Clean Up School Site Acquired by Eminent Domain

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