Time is running out for the holdouts in Queens’ Willets Point, where the city is planning to make its first move towards seizing a 20-acre swath of land through eminent domain next week. According to the Wall Street Journal, the parcel represents the first phase of the 62-acre development project, for which the city will begin soliciting bids from developers in April. Among the developers who have previously expressed interest in the project are the Related Companies, Muss Development and the Wilpon Family’s Sterling Equities. … [more]

Columbia University can move forward with plans for a $6.3 billion expansion after the U.S. Supreme Court today rejected an appeal by local businesses whose properties may be subject to eminent domain, Crain’s reported. The justices refused to question findings by a state development agency, Empire State Development Corp., saying that the area is blighted and that the expansion has a legitimate public purpose. The 17-acre site in Manhattanville would add more than 6.8 million square feet to the university…. [more]

A petition for certiorari filed by Harlem property owners in the eminent domain case concerning the proposed expansion of Columbia University into Harlem by way of the Empire State Development Corporation will be consider by the Supreme Court of the United States today, with a decision to grant or deny to be released Dec. 13. Similar to the Atlantic Yards case, the property owners in the Columbia case have disputed the ESDC’s findings, which say that their properties are blighted. The ESDC is the same agency that enabled Forest City Ratner to take private homes and businesses for the Atlantic Yards arena. The blog of the Supreme Court has also included the Columbia University eminent domain case on its list of “Petitions to Watch.” [No Land Grab] … [more]

Despite numerous setbacks that have delayed development, Columbia University officials say they’re moving full steam ahead on the school’s Manhattanville expansion project, in the wake of the State Court of Appeals ruling in their favor June 24, according to Crain’s. The court’s decision, which authorizes the use of eminent domain in Columbia’s proposed $6.3 billion project, officially gave the school the green light on its 16-building expansion, which will stretch from Broadway to 12th Avenue and from 125th to 133rd streets. But the protracted court fight to gain development rights through eminent domain came with a price for Columbia: the school says it’s now years behind schedule, and swift action is needed to get back on track. The first phase of the project, a four-building cluster, for example, will miss its target completion date by five years, with estimates now showing it may not be finished until 2020. [Crain's]

… [more]

The New York Court of Appeals has upheld the state’s use of eminent domain to seize land for Columbia University’s proposed $6.3 billion, 17-acre West Harlem expansion plan, the Associated Press reported. The Empire State Development Corp. had argued that the seizures were justified because the area was blighted. The Columbia project, the agency said, would improve the neighborhood with new housing, laboratories and two acres of public open space. In December, that argument was rejected by a state appellate court, which said the general public would not benefit from the expansion of a private university. Columbia already owns all but 9 percent of the land it intends to build upon but wants the new Manhattanville campus to run uninterrupted with an interconnected underground facility beneath it. [AP] 

… [more]

The New York Court of Appeals has upheld the state’s use of eminent domain to seize land for Columbia University’s proposed $6.3 billion, 17-acre West Harlem expansion plan, the Associated Press reported. The Empire State Development Corp. had argued that the seizures were justified because the area was blighted. The Columbia project, the agency said, would improve the neighborhood with new housing, laboratories and two acres of public open space. In December, that argument was rejected by a state appellate court, which said the general public would not benefit from the expansion of a private university. Columbia already owns all but 9 percent of the land it intends to build upon but wants the new Manhattanville campus to run uninterrupted with an interconnected underground facility beneath it. [AP] 

… [more]

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has begun sending out letters to West Siders whose stores and properties lie in the path of a tunnel-boring machine that will soon start creating an $8.7 billion commuter New Jersey Transit train line beneath the Hudson River. More than 90 business and building owners have received notice that the Port Authority might use eminent domain to acquire their properties. Ground was broken on the tunnel’s west end in North Bergen, N.J. last summer; ultimately it is slated to stretch to a terminal under 34th Street near the Macy’s flagship, though work in Manhattan is not likely to begin for several months. First, the Port Authority must hold an as-yet-unscheduled public hearing on the eminent domain process. [NYT]

… [more]

Columbia University is set to take its eminent domain case to the New York Court of Appeals today, according to Crain’s, in an effort to secure space for its proposed $6 billion, 17-acre expansion. The appeal comes on the heels of the court’s vehement denial of Columbia’s effort to use eminent domain to seize the land. The Empire State Development Corp has determined that the area where the school wanted to expand was blighted, which would have allowed Columbia to step in and take the land. But a series of legal actions from residents blocked the university from going through with its plan. A decision is expected from the court sometime this summer. [Crain's]

… [more]

At left and at right: photos of alleged damage to the Newswalk condo from ShameOnShaya.org; Center: Shaya Boymelgreen

2010 hasn’t been kind to Brooklyn developer Shaya Boymelgreen. Last
month, he was evicted from his Prospect Heights office near Atlantic
Yards after his landlord lost the building to eminent domain. And one month
before that, his LibertyPointe Bank was seized by the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation. 

… [more]

Move over, Daniel Goldstein. Dozens of tenants remain living in the footprint of the planned Willoughby Square Park in Downtown Brooklyn, even after their properties were seized by the city early last year through eminent domain, the Post reported. The 10 properties lie on the 1 1/4-acre site between Albee Square, Willoughby and Duffield streets, and their inhabitants allege that although the city has given them a July deadline to move out, they’ve been given little assistance in finding other accommodations. … [more]