MINNEAPOLIS EMINENT DOMAIN ATTORNEY PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON THE MET COUNCIL'S BLUE LINE EXTENSION PROJECT
MORPHEW LAW OFFICE PROVIDES AN UPDATE ON THE MET COUNCIL’S BLUE LINE EXTENSION PROJECT
The Metropolitan Council is in the process of proceeding with its Blue Line Extension Project. That project is proposed to operate on 13.4 miles of track connecting downtown Minneapolis to the communities of North Minneapolis, Robbinsdale, Crystal, and Brooklyn Park. The Blue Line extension and its 12 new stations will be part of an integrated system of transitways serving the region, including connections to the Green Line, Northstar commuter rail line, bus rapid transit lines, existing bus service and proposed future transitways.
While the Blue Line will provide additional transportation options for the metro area, it will likely have a significant impact upon property owners, businesses and tenants that are in the path of the project. For property owners having their properties taken to accommodate this project they must be paid the fair market value for their property. But just because the government makes a “fair-market value offer,” it does not mean those property owners will be getting a fair deal. Under Minnesota eminent domain law, the government must offer, at minimum, a payment equal to the fair market value of the property. Typically, government representatives will use a simple calculation based on comparable prices per square foot from neighboring properties. They might present this offer as a take-it-or-leave-it option, but you have the right to ask for more compensation for your property — and it’s likely you should.
If the government is buying the entire property, it must take replacement costs into account when building their offer. This is the cost to buy a new home or reestablish the business once again in another location. Often, the replacement cost is more than the property’s market value price.
Additionally, property owners and tenants can also claim relocation benefits and recoup costs for searching for a new location, buying a new home, moving their equipment and reconnecting it there. Together, these costs can total into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Before you sign on the dotted line and accept the government’s offer, pick up the phone and call Jon W. Morphew from Morphew Law Office, PLLC. Morphew Law Office works with a network of expert appraisers, consultants and engineers to assist property owners, tenants and businesses with determining the true fair market value of your property and the amount of relocation benefits for which they are entitled to receive. Morphew Law Office will have its expert appraisers walk through your property and determine a fair market value based on criteria that is more comprehensive than the formula the government uses. The appraiser’s findings give you bargaining power against the government’s offer.
When the government claims eminent domain over your home or commercial property, don’t be “Minnesota Nice.” You can fight city hall. Before accepting the government’s offer, seek the advice of an experienced eminent domain attorney. Contact Jon Morphew and the Morphew Law Office, PLLC at 612-790-9189 today for a free consultation.