Eminent Domain

Metropolitan Transportation Authority et al. v. Aron Forem

Court: Supreme Court, Queens County
Citation: Index No. 910/15
Plaintiff: Metropolitan Transportation Authority et al. (AMTA@)
Defendant: Aron Forem (AForem@)

Facts: The MTA condemned property owned by Forem in Flushing, Queens. The title was vested with the MTA in 2015. The MTA required the property as part of an improvement project for the local Long Island Railroad station. The property had a one-story building leased to a Chinese supermarket with a ten-year lease. Yearly rent at the time of the taking was $46,800.00, or $236.46 per sq. ft. The MTA offered about $5,000,000 to Forem and he suggested that the property was worth about $15,000,000.

Holding: The Supreme Court conducted a nonjury trial. There were two experts B one for the MTA and one for Forem. Both appraisers used an income approach. Forem=s appraiser determined that the cap rate for the parcel was 2.5%, based upon a review of five similar properties. The net operating income for the property was $392,411.00. The MTA=s appraiser used a cap rate of 6.5%, based upon a review of cap rates for properties located in strip malls. This property was a stand-alone market. The Supreme Court concluded that Forem=s appraiser had used the proper cap rate and determined that the value of the property was $15,430,000.

Submitted by: Philip Sanchez, Esq.(www.spnylaw.com)

Precis:Davida S. Scher