A year ago, if you’d have asked Bloomfield Hills attorney Alan Akerman what a farmer’s dream is–though a tear ago, there was no reason to ask such an obscure question–he’d…
“View From the Top” Ep. 31 from Specs Howard TV on Vimeo. Many hurdles remain if Michigan and Ontario are to build a bridge over the Detroit River connecting Detroit…
Commercial property owners can minimize the disruptions and financial headaches of costly land seizures. Click here to read entire article.
The Midwest, and Michigan in particular, is emerging as a center for clean energy. But at a cost, of course. That price has yet to be determined for several large…
People must know their rights to just compensation when negotiating with ITCTransmission. Click Here to read entire article.
Determining the value of your waterfront property when a government wants it for public use requires a much more detailed analysis than simply measuring square footage. Click here to read…
This article describes the historical standard for challenges to the necessity of eminent domain takings, the effects of the 1963 Michigan Constitution on necessity challenges, and more. Click here to…
Although it doesn’t take an eminent domain and condemnation professional to notice the high volume of vacant properties, abandoned businesses, boarded up homes and for sale signs flooding the streets…
One of the great challenges in a recessionary cycle is reconciling the apparent contradiction between property values disproportionately impacted by the short-term realities of a lean marketplace and a more…
Almost 40 years ago, former Detroit Mayor Jerome Cavanagh considered the business flight from the city and deadpanned that he planned trips to “Detroit’s sister cities — Nagasaki and Pompeii.”…
This is the second part of a two-part series dealing with the valuation of surface parking lots acquired through a governmental agency’s power of eminent domain. Parking lots acquired through…
The calculation of damages is of greater relevance with the recognition that damages must be paid when there are temporary takings. This article will cover the early Supreme Court precedent,…
When Warren Mayor Jim Fouts called Detroit’s aging infrastructure a “ticking time bomb that’s ready to go off” earlier this year, he was referring to the state of Southeast Michigan’s…
The first of a two part series dealing with parking lots and the just compensation process for parking lots acquired through a governmental agency’s use of eminent domain. Click here…
This article explores whether the minimum constitutional and statutory requirements are being fulfilled by condemning agencies in the “good faith written offer” process. Statutory Framework All condemnation proceedings in Michigan…