In the recent case of Florida Department of Transportation ("FDOT") vs. WK Ashley, LLC, GrayRobinson partners Kent Hipp and Nick Dancaescu were able to obtain benefits for our property owner client worth in excess of $10,000,000 despite the FDOT's appraisal and initial offer of only $3,522,100.
The case involved the Ashley Apartment Complex - a 260 unit deluxe apartment complex located in Altamonte Springs between Wymore Road and Interstate 4. The FDOT was taking a 10 foot wide strip of property and a 12 foot wide permanent easement for the I-4 widening project through Orlando. 127 parking spaces and a drive aisle that served 108 of the apartment units were located in the areas that the FDOT proposed to take. The settlement netted GrayRobinson's client $6,400,000 in cash, (nearly twice FDOT's offer) as well as concessions from FDOT with an estimated value of $3,600,000.
Kent and Nick completed this complicated eminent domain case in just 8 months even though it involved numerous issues including:
Valuation of land, improvements and severance damages;
Analyzing multiple on-site "cure" plans to reduce the impacts from the FDOT takings. These plans included "cutting and re-facing" 8 multi-story apartment buildings and re-configuring the apartment complex's parking and access circulation;
Determining the amount of lost future income from the 30-40 apartment units that will be removed by FDOT's construction and the on-site cures;
Determining the amount of lost rents from the various portions of the complex during the owner's on-site cure construction;
Resolving unique issues regarding Federal Relocation Benefits for current and future tenants.
The GrayRobinson team concluded the matter successfully by quickly assembling a group of extremely qualified professionals whose disciplines included engineering, surveying, contracting, land planning, and appraising. The team then applied a disciplined approach to conclude the matter very favorably for our clients.
To see images relevant to the case, please click here.