Eminent Domain Report

The Southern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute holds a great conference each year covering a variety of hot-topic issues.  The 2013 Conference will be held this Thursday, September 12, 2013, and my partner Rick Rayl and I will be presenting on the future of redevelopment in California.  So, if you're interested in what's played out over the last year for redevelopment agencies, what lawsuits have been filed, what projects are moving forward, and what the future holds for all the property that is now owned by the successor agencies, come join us.  

The rest of the Conference is ...

Few property owners look forward with any enthusiasm to the date the government finally announces it is moving forward with plans to condemn their property.   But owners who pretend that day will never actually arrive often realize too late that they have missed opportunities to protect their investments.

Eminent domain often proceeds over a very long time-table.  From project conception to right of way acquisition, years may pass, with properties held up in a cruel limbo as owners wait to see if the project really happens, and if so, whether their property will ultimately be impacted. 

In ...

According to an article in this week's New York Times, "Solar Power Plants to Rise on U.S. Land," the United States has approved two large solar power plants to be built on federal lands.  This is the first time such large plants will be built on federal land, and both are slated for California. 

The first plant is proposed by Tessera Solar and will be built on 6,360 acres in the Imperial Valley.  The second plant is proposed by Chevron Energy and will be built on 422 acres in the Lucerne Valley.  When completed, the two projects could generate enough energy to power as many as 566,000 ...