City of New Orleans v. Thieler

181 So. 2d 56, 1965 La. App. LEXIS 3891
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 6, 1965
DocketNo. 1950
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 181 So. 2d 56 (City of New Orleans v. Thieler) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
City of New Orleans v. Thieler, 181 So. 2d 56, 1965 La. App. LEXIS 3891 (La. Ct. App. 1965).

Opinion

YARRUT, Judge.

This is an appeal by the City of New ■'Orleans from the judgment of the district •court condemning it to pay $40,500.00 to Defendant for expropriating the latter’s property needed for the widening of Poy-dras Street in New Orleans.

The only issue is quantum. The City of New Orleans will be referred to herein as -the “City,” and the Defendant as the “Owner.”

The property expropriated bears the Municipal No. 426 Camp Street, is close to the •corner of Poydras Street, and is described ■as follows:

A certain lot of ground, together with all the buildings and improvements thereon, situated in the First District •of this City in Square No. 165, bounded by Camp, Magazine, Poydras and Natchez Sts., and designated as Lot 24 measuring twenty-one feet, eleven inches, four lines (21'11"4"') front •on Camp St., by a depth between parallel lines of fifty-six feet, eight inches (56" 8").

The Owner claims he is entitled to $70,-000.00 as fair market value; plus $31,724.-96, special damages, viz.:

“a) Special work and materials required to accommodate defendant in new location :
Electrical $10,000.00
Plumbing 2,800.00
Carpentry 2,824.96 Shelving & Showcases 1,800.00
Electric Dumb Elevator 3,000.00
Signs 3,000.00
Total $23,424.96
b) Appraisal Expenses 1,500.00
c) Moving Expenses 6,800.00
TOTAL $31,724.96”

The district court rendered judgment for only $40,500.00 for the Owner, plus $1,750.-00 expert fees, or a total of $42,250.00, plus all costs and interest; denying the items of special damages claimed by the Owner.

The City appealed for a reduction of the award, and the Owner answered for an increase to $75,000.00.

The principal experts appearing were Max Derbes, realtor for the City; and Omer F. Kuebel, realtor, and Edward C. Gremillion, civil engineer and building construction estimator and superintendent, for the Owner.

Mr. Derbes testified that the building had a replacement value of $43,835.00, from which he deducted 75% for depreciation and obsolescence, or $32,876.00, leaving a depreciated value of $10,959.00; then appraised that land at $10.00 per square foot (1244 square feet), or $12,443.00; making an over-all valuation of $23,402.00. Mr. Derbes was not qualified as a building expert and did not support his testimony with any competent evidence as to the depreciation or replacement value of the building.

Mr. Kuebel, for the Owner, testified he covered the entire area along Camp, Magazine, Poydras and St. Charles Street; reported all the sales, and considered the enhancement in value resulting from the new [58]*58International Trade Mart; that he inspected each one of the properties he considered comparable; and interviewed either the buyer or the seller in order to properly analyze the sale, the sales price, physical condition of the building at the time of the sale, and other economic factors which should be known by an appraiser in making estimates of value by comparison; that he engaged Mr. Edward C. Gremillion, civil engineer and contractor for many years with Perrilliat & Rickey Construction Co., Inc., as estimator and supervisor, to make an independent survey of the cost of reproduction of the building.

After analyzing the comparable sales, Mr. Kuebel fixed the land value at $13.50 per square foot, or $16,794.00 for the 1244-total square footage.

Regarding the value of the improvements, Mr. Kuebel accepted Mr. Gremil-lion’s analysis of the value of $27,895.00, or a total value of $44,689.00, or $35.93 per square foot for both land and building.

Mr. Gremillion testified and gave a detailed analysis of the value of the improvements, viz.:

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Related

Florida Gas Transmission Co. v. Munson
198 So. 2d 750 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1967)
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183 So. 2d 421 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 1966)

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181 So. 2d 56, 1965 La. App. LEXIS 3891, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/city-of-new-orleans-v-thieler-lactapp-1965.