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Alexandria sanitation agency to try seizing 10 acres after unsuccessful bid
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Alexandria (Map, News) - Alexandria’s sanitation authority is trying to take more than 10 acres of property through an eminent domain seizure, offering nearly $10 million less than it bid on the land in 2005.
The authority needs to expand its wastewater treatment plant, according to a condemnation petition filed in Alexandria Circuit Court in June. But it is not willing to pay the $51 million value of the property located between Eisenhower Avenue and the Beltway, said the property’s owner, Charles Hooff III.
The sewer authority has made several offers on the property over more than two years, according to the authority’s petition. They came close to sealing a $30 million deal in 2005, but the authority wasn’t willing to close as quickly as the owners wanted, Hooff told The Examiner.
Neither the sanitation authority’s lawyer nor Board Chairman Edward Semonian returned calls seeking comment.
After the authority tendered the same $30 million deal again in December 2005, Hooff and his co-owners advertised the property for sale.
“They were very emphatic in saying that unless we’d sell it at a lower price, they’d like it but weren’t
interested,” Hooff said of the authority.
Hooff received a half-dozen offers in the spring of 2006. The authority’s bid was the lowest, Hooff said. He began negotiating instead with Penzance Companies on a $45 million offer.
A week before the sale was finalized, the sewer authority told Hooff and Penzance’s chief executive officer that it was going to take the property through eminent domain, Hooff said. Penzance CEO Victor Tolken did not return a call seeking comment.
“He thinks we had him in as a stalking horse for the authority,” said Hooff, who added that he shared all its correspondence with Tolken. “They’ve also taken my reputation.”
Last February, the authority offered Hooff $20.4 million for the property. That offer was based on an appraisal done by a consultant the sewer authority hired, according to its petition. Hooff turned it down in May.
In June, the authority asked the circuit court to condemn the property and allow the authority to take it for $20.4 million.
“The authority is already behind schedule to construct the improvements and [the] acquisition of the property could not be further delayed,” the petition states.
A hearing has yet to be scheduled, according to circuit court records.
mhegstad@dcexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
10:35 AM MST on Tue., Jun. 24, 2008 re: "Economist says Baltimore development hurt city"
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1:01 PM MST on Sat., Mar. 1, 2008
re: "Governments' ability to seize property at stake on June ballot"
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10:37 AM MST on Sat., Mar. 1, 2008
re: "Governments' ability to seize property at stake on June ballot"
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3:33 AM MST on Fri., Aug. 3, 2007
re: "Alexandria sanitation agency to try seizing 10 acres after unsuccessful bid"
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11:13 AM MST on Fri., Jun. 29, 2007
re: "County moves forward with condemnation"
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11:32 AM MST on Wed., Jun. 27, 2007
re: "County moves forward with condemnation"
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12:21 PM MST on Thu., May. 31, 2007
re: "Judge extends restraining order in well takeover case"
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10:54 AM MST on Wed., May. 16, 2007
re: "Eminent domain questioned in city, county"
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10:00 AM MST on Wed., May. 16, 2007
re: "Evans mulls eminent domain against Boys and Girls Club branch"
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AMERICA CALLING said:
what he forgot to add is that baltimore or crime city that bleeds is a big factor
1 agree | 0 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
I spent 22 years in SoCal, left in 2002 for VA. It was a great state, you could do almost anything there as long as you didnt bother anyone (including being gay etc). Crime was low, taxes etc were managable. Then came the liberal agenda and now its a one party state to include Arnold!. Then came the gun control, taxes on taxes and rules on rules. Gas is more than 4 dollars a gallon and you rent a million dollar shoe box to live in. Watch out Virginia, we are next...
66 agree | 59 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
True Story. I knew a man who owned a plumbing supply business in Burlingame. His next door neighbor, the SM County Mosquito Abatement District said they "needed" part of his land for its function. He said "no way." They seized it by E.D. claiming a public health "need." He was paid market price, of course, but lost half his land. Ever since, the mosquito abatement people used that extra land for,,,, washing personal vehicles, storing personal tow trailers and personal boats, and other personal no essential stuff. Once when I was visiting him, he told me to go next door and see what they were doing. I walked over and chatted with an employee. He was cleaning a small fish pond with goldfish in it. Moral of the story? THEY DIDN'T NEED THE LAND AS THEY SAID THEY DID. IT TURNED OUT TO BE EXCESS LAND FOR THEM.
75 agree | 59 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
The county could put an easement on the property . That will make the owner unable to sell the property . Piece of cake. However, if the county wants to take the possession of the property, the county has to have at least 4 independent estimate, then average out to be fair to the owners.
160 agree | 180 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Absolutely positively the government has NO RIGHT to take our private property...under NO circumstances. We are begining the slide down the slippery slope of which we can never return. I am afraid this is only the beginning! Not surprising for Maryland.
175 agree | 154 disagree
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Jamie said:
Under what circumstances should the county condemn properties? In this case it's drugs and violence. But did the properties at Yorkway commit these crimes? Hardly. The county is leveling these apartments to make room for higher end homes/condos and pushing the crime somewhere else. So what is it again that we are trying to accomplish? The shifting of crime onto someone else. But where? Who cares. That's not our problem. What we want are better neighbors and a better value for our homes. But is the county making life better for us or our landlords? When will we begin to tackle the root cause of Yorkway? Maybe the new developers will have a great new way to deal with crime and drugs in our neighborhood. Something tells me, though, that this is not their problem. Which leads me back to my question.
166 agree | 159 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Only in America
170 agree | 157 disagree
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Cynical Citizen said:
What development is proposed for the Koo's property and in what condition is the property in? Seems notably absent from the article...
172 agree | 187 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
There is something seriously wrong with this statement. Has this man never heard of the United States Constitution? Evans "said he would seek to condemn the club and have the city take it under eminent domain if it chooses to sell to developers and fails to include some sort of comparable community organization. "
190 agree | 211 disagree
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