Playing moneyball
“The city wants to use eminent domain in order to wrest control of a key piece of Downtown Plaza property (the former Macy’s men’s store), so it can give it to the Sacramento Kings for the team’s proposed new basketball arena. The Sacramento Bee editorial board cheered the city’s “hardball” tactics, saying it’s time the current property owners “play ball” and sell.
It never ends with the ball metaphors, does it, guys?
Anyway, eminent domain is an extraordinary step—and politically troublesome. Is it justified? The public doesn’t have much information to go on.
The city says it’s offered $4.3 million—already provided by the Kings—a price derived by an independent appraisal. But so far, no counter offer. (The money would be split between CalPERS, which owns the land, and C-III Capital Partners, which owns the mortgage on the building.)”
Carvin, Cosmo. NewsReview.com 9 January 2014.