Landowner awarded $5M in eminent domain case
A Superior Court jury has awarded a landowner more than $5 million for land the state took via eminent domain at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 16.
The Delaware Department of Transportation sought to acquire a 4.2-acre triangular piece of land at the southeastern corner of the intersection adjacent to The Rookery golf course. The vacant parcel, owned by PITB LLC, contained a northbound country road along the border with The Rookery to Route 16. It also contained a 0.2525-acre easement owned by Stafford Street Capital LLC. DelDOT took possession of the property in 2021 and has used the land as part of its project to build a grade-separated intersection in the area.
The eminent domain process requires a formal condemnation proceeding because the landowner did not accept DelDOT’s offer of $1.48 million to purchase the property, which the agency claims in the lawsuit filed in 2021 to be the highest fair market value appraisal it received. It offered $144,700 for the easement.
Attorneys from Brockstedt Mandalas Federico worked with land-appraisal experts to explore the value of the property, which it determined was $5.25 million, and the attorneys were able to convince a jury their appraisal was more appropriate, as the jury awarded the landowners $5.015 million.
According to the law firm, it is unusual for eminent domain requests to go to a jury. Condemnation cases are most often resolved via negotiation or mediation. This case was just the second time in recent memory that a condemnation case was decided by a jury.
Prior to construction of the first of two bridges over Route 16, DelDOT constructed new northbound Route 1 roads through the triangular property. Work on the southbound bridge finished this spring, with work now beginning on the northbound bridge.
Nick Roth is the news editor. He has been with the Cape Gazette since 2012, previously covering town beats in Milton and Lewes. In addition to serving on the editorial board and handling page layout, Nick is responsible for the weekly Delaware History in Photographs feature and enjoys writing stories about the Cape Region’s history. Prior to the Cape Gazette, Nick worked for the Delmarva Media Group, including the Delaware Wave, Delaware Coast Press and Salisbury Daily Times. He also contributed to The News Journal. Originally from Boyertown, Pa., Nick attended Shippensburg University in central Pennsylvania, graduating in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in journalism. He’s won several MDDC awards during his career for both writing and photography. In his free time, he enjoys golfing, going to the beach with his family and cheering for Philadelphia sports teams.
