Type of action: Land condemnation/eminent domain
Injuries alleged: Taking of approximately 39.59 acres of property in Raleigh for consolidation of city services.
Case name: City of Raleigh v. Jack Parker Properties
Court: Wake County
Verdict or settlement: Settlement (mediation)
Settlement date: July 31, 2007
Amount: $11,900,000
Experts: Jim Spangler and Lee Henry, Spangler Environmental Consultants, Raleigh
Plaintiff attorneys: Bradford Williams and Brandon Poole for City of Raleigh
Defense attorneys: George B. Autry, Jr. and Stephanie Hutchins Autry, Cranfill Sumner & Hartzog, attorneys for the property owners
Submitted by: Debbie Bean
Description: The city planned to acquire the property, located at the intersection of Capital Boulevard and I-440, so that it could consolidate city services, including maintenance and parks and recreation. The property's size (almost 40 acres) and prime location just two miles from downtown Raleigh made it uniquely suitable for the city's purposes, as well as for a variety of other private industrial and commercial uses. The city used its powers under eminent domain statutes to perform environmental testing to establish the extent of environmental contamination on the site over the property owners' objections, but the testing revealed limited contamination. The parties agreed that $300,000 of the settlement amount would be held in escrow for a maximum of two years in the event remediation of environmental contamination is required.
January 28, 2008
