Posted on 09/29/2004 1:40:25 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
The Maryland orchard farmer and his family have owned their parcel of land in Southeast Washington since before the Great Depression and lease it to an auto repair business.
The retired Army sergeant major bought his 19th-century house in the same neighborhood six years ago for $161,000, thinking it was "a nice fixer-upper" to settle down in. Since then, he has spent about $50,000 on renovations. Nearby, a Fairfax hospitality company has owned a square block for more than a half-century. During those years, it has been the site of the company's largest warehouse.
Those property owners are among the more than two dozen individuals and businesses that control the 20-acre site on the banks of the Anacostia River where the city wants to build a baseball stadium. And the District government will have to negotiate with them during the coming months if Major League Baseball decides to move the Montreal Expos to the nation's capital.
A preliminary list prepared by the administration of Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) shows that the four square blocks needed for the ballpark are composed of 65 parcels of land owned by 28 individuals, businesses, limited liability companies and trusts. [...snip...]
Most of the dozen property owners interviewed last week said they are reluctant to sell their holdings but think they are somewhat helpless and resigned to having to do so if Washington gets a baseball team. They said they would try to negotiate the best price for their land, aware that the District has limited resources and is prepared to use the right of eminent domain to force a sale.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
More likely between $800,000 and $1,500,000
Why don't they use RFK stadium?
You are talking about the slums of DC here.
I don't know about this specific case, but sports teams typically demand new facilities as part of the price of choosing a particular city.
yes I am...and yes that is where they are looking too...
The Expos just cant catch a break....
Southeast (Anacostia excluded) is the new up-and-coming part of DC. The city hopes that putting the new stadium there will have the same effect as what the MCI Center did to its neighborhood. I'm not convinced they're wrong, either.
It's an old facility. I've been there for an MLS game and it doesn't have the amenities that teams are looking for these days.
Your federal tax dollars are paying for it also.
I meant use the RFK Stadium site, not the ancient stadium itself.
The RFK site is not in an area that the DC government (and the powerful developers that have cozied up to the government) are looking to develop, basically.
It seems many on this thread are not considering the underlaying problem of the erosion of private property rights. Eminent domain is being used to beef up tax rolls around the country, and should, nay must, be stopped lest we lose other rights as easily.
You are at the heart of the issue.Governments in the US are running amuck and are power crazy.It's time we put the chains on them.
BTT!!!!!!!!
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