Presentation to Florida Bar Continuing Legal Education Seminar on the subject of Voluntary Land Assembly Projects

1. LAND ASSEMBLY TECHNIQUES,
EMINENT DOMAIN and
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
VOLUNTARY ASSEMBLIES
Presented by
MICHAEL Wm. MORELL, ESQ.
Law Office of Michael Wm. Morell
P.O. Box 6672
West Palm Beach, Florida 33405-6672
(561) 714-7533
morellmw@bellsouth.net

2. Law Office of Michael Wm. Morell
•
Administrative,Governmental & Regulatory Law
•
Land Use, Zoning, Planning and Redevelopment Law
•
Historical Preservation Law
•
Elections, Ethics and Public Disclosure Law

3. Question: What is a voluntary land assembly Common Interest Group?

4. A voluntary land assembly Common Interest Group is…
•
A voluntary organization of
•
private landowners (no government officials or sponsorship) who
•
own property in [describe location]… within the City of [describe jurisdiction], and who have come together
•
For the purpose of exploring whether it is economically and practically feasible to:
–
maximize the value of all property located in the assembly area;
–
through the “self assembly” method of compiling individual parcels of land;
–
into a “common” or unified 5.631 acre block;
–
for sale to a private developer for re-development purposes.

5. It ‘s all about Collective Action!

6. Map Data

7. 12 Unit
Residential
Condominium
.401 ac
improved
4 Unit Commerical
Medical Office Condominium
.459 ac improved
Vacant Lot .069 ac
Real Estate Sales
.043 ac imp.
Home & Office Interior Decorating Service
.245 ac
improved
Multi-office commercial facility
.403 ac
improved
Commercial Office .344 ac improved
Drive-thru Convenience Store
.191 ac improved
Parking lot for
Multi-office commercial facility
.23 ac
vacant (parking)
Parking lot for Off-site Restaurant .459 ac vacant (parking)
Vacant lot .23 ac
Vacant lot
.23 ac
Parking lot for
Off-site Restaurant
.23 ac
vacant (parking)
Commercial Strip Shopping Center 1.159 ac improved
Dry Cleaners
.087 ac improved
Parking lot for Commercial Strip Shopping Center .23 ac vacant (parking)
Law Firm
.23 ac
improved
Office
.23 ac
improved
Office
.161 ac
improved
S.E. X Avenue
S. E. Z Street
S.E. Y Avenue
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
7
13
14
15
16
17
18
N block
S block
Block (N + S) = 5.631 Total Acres
Red numerals = Parcel numbers

8. Parcel Data

12. Owner Data

16. Question: What are the stakes in the art of land assembly?

17. “To get a sense of the values at stake, consider the recent assembly and condemnation of a dozen buildings (housing 55 businesses) on a seedy part of Eighth Avenue between 41st and 42nd streets. New York City is handing over the Times Square site to the New York Times for the “fair market value” (FMV) of $85 million, but based upon several standard valuation methods (including looking to the assembled lot across the street), private developers would pay almost three times the FMV.”
The Art of Land Assembly, a draft of an article, January 28, 2004, by Professors Michael A. Heller and Roderick M. Hills, Jr., http://www.law.uchicago.edu/Lawecon/workshop- papers/Heller.pdf
“a $150 million discrepancy”

18. Holdouts don’t always get a “free-ride”

19. Don’t sell yet, you said.
Hold out, you said.
Demand a higher price, you said.
They can’t build without our property, you said.
Well?
Photo courtesy of USF&G Insurance
Yes, they can build without your property

20. Antoinetta Bongiovanni’s modest two-story dwelling in Atlantic City, New Jersey surrounded by the structural steel framework of the Penthouse International Casino erected around it. Bongiovanni flatly refused to sell to the casino interests and after living in her dimunitive home for 25 years a family member said: “She just didn’t want to move; that’s all” The disruptions caused by the construction work were evidently more than Mrs. Bongiovanni’s husband could endure; he died a few months later. In an ironic twist of fate, the Penthouse Casino was not completed because of the inability of its management to make appropriate financing arrangements.
“She just didn’t want to move; that’s all”

21. On THIS SITE
WILL BE ERECTED
A 32 STORY
LUXURY
APARTMENT
BUILDING
AFTER THE DEMISE
OF THE OLD LADY
A developer’s ultimate patience
Cartoon by Charles Adams, courtesy of The New Yorker

26. Questions & Answers