Court upholds ruling stating MTA undervalued 194 Broadway

A New York state court upheld a 2009 ruling late yesterday against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, saying that the agency undervalued a property at 194 Broadway, Crain’s reported. The MTA took over the property from DLR Properties, an affiliate of the Riese Organization, through eminent domain and demolished it to Make Room For The New Fulton Street Transit Center.

The MTA valued the building, between Fulton and John streets, at $27.4 million, while DLR valued it at around $60 million, Crain’s said.

The court ordered the MTA to pay DLR $35.2 million for undervaluing the building, Rosenberg & Estis, the law firm representing DLR, announced.

“The law provides that a property owner is entitled to receive just compensation when its property is taken in condemnation proceedings,” said Warren Estis, of Rosenberg & Estis, in a statement. “The MTA had initially low-balled the property owner.”

The MTA has already paid DLR all but $7.8 million of the amount detailed in the earlier court decision, and is currently considering its options.

“We are reviewing the decision to determine whether to appeal,” an MTA official said. [Crain’s]