Fort Worth Concrete Company v. State

416 S.W.2d 518, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2783
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedJune 2, 1967
Docket16834
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 416 S.W.2d 518 (Fort Worth Concrete Company v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Fort Worth Concrete Company v. State, 416 S.W.2d 518, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2783 (Tex. Ct. App. 1967).

Opinion

OPINION

LANGDON, Justice.

This is the second appeal of this case. It originated in the County Court at Law, Tarrant County, Texas. The opinion of this Court on the first appeal is reported in 391 S.W.2d 818. By writ of error the first appeal reached the Supreme Court. It reversed the judgments of the trial court and of this Court and remanded the case to the trial court “with instructions to set aside the order dismissing petitioner and to proceed to a new trial.” 400 S.W.2d 314. Reference is made to the opinions of this court and of the Supreme Court for a more detailed statement of the nature and result of the case. For the purpose of this opinion the statement is summarized as follows:

This is a condemnation proceeding. Appellant, a party to the condemnation, was in possession of all of the real property condemned, under a valid lease, on the date the condemnation proceeding was initiated and on June 19, 1964, the day of taking and owned all of the permanent improvements affixed to the real estate at such times. On the motion of appellees, contending that appellant “has at no time during the pend-ency of this suit owned any interest in the real estate sought to be condemned” the appellant was dismissed from the case by order of the court. The case was tried to the jury on the merits. Appellant was not permitted to participate in the trial. The jury found that $35,000.00 was the reasonable market value of the land on the day of taking, “exclusive of all improvements, *520 and subject to the month to month lease with Fort Worth Concrete Company.” Based upon this finding, a final judgment was entered directing the County Clerk of Tarrant County (in partial payment of the $35,000.00 judgment) “to deliver and pay to said defendants (the other condemnees) * * * the sum of $15,000.00 deposited herein on June 19, 1964.” Appellant appealed both from the judgment dismissing it from the case and refusing to allow it to present evidence of damages due to condemnation and from the judgment directing that the $15,000.00 in the registry of the court be paid to the other condemnees.

The Supreme Court held that the trial court had no authority to award the deposit or any portion thereof to the other con-demnees to the exclusion of appellant, until there had been a final determination of appellant’s compensable interest, if any, and directed the court to proceed to a new trial to determine this interest.

When the mandate was returned to the trial court the $35,000.00 judgment had been paid and all the issues between the appel-lees, as condemnors, and all of the other condemnees had been settled. Appellant was the sole condemnee remaining. Thus, only its damages, if any, were secured by the $15,000.00 deposit in the registry of the court. Appellant made an application to withdraw these funds and the case was set for trial. The appellees filed a motion and an amended motion for summary judgment, contending that the pleadings and the summary judgment evidence clearly showed that appellant “has no compensable interest in this cause” and therefore “there is no genuine issue as to any material fact in connection with the compensable interest of Fort Worth Concrete Company or said Company’s right to receive compensation in this condemnation suit.” Appellant answered the motions for summary judgment. The trial court, after a hearing, entered a judgment on January 3, 1967, that “defendant, Fort Worth Concrete Company (appellant), has no compensable interest in this cause.” It ordered and decreed that appellant “take nothing herein,” and that its motion to withdraw funds “be and the same is hereby overruled and denied,” and “that the funds in the amount of $15,000.00 heretofore paid into the registry of the Court in this cause be refunded and paid over to Tarrant County, Texas, by the clerk of this Court.”

The appellant contends the trial court erred (1) in granting appellees’ (con-demnors’) motion for summary judgment because on the day of taking (June 19, 1964) appellant was in possession of the condemned premises by virtue of a valid and subsisting lease, the term of which had not expired, and owned all of the improvements which were permanently affixed to the real estate. That because its leasehold estate was taken and its improvements destroyed by the proceedings in condemnation it was entitled to a jury trial to determine what damages, if any, it had sustained; (2) in denying appellant’s application to withdraw the funds deposited in court because appellant was the sole party whose damages were secured by the deposit, and as the money was subject solely to the order of appellant, it had the statutory right by the provisions of Article 3268, Vernon’s Ann.Rev.Civ.St., Section 1, to withdraw same; (3) in entering judgment ordering that the funds deposited in court be refunded and paid over to appellees, because of the same reasons.

Appellant held possession of the condemned property under a lease dated February 1, 1961, for a two-year term. The lease, on a printed form, contained the following typewritten provisions:

“The lessee shall, in addition, have the option to renew this lease for an additional two-year period upon the same terms, upon giving lessor notice in writing of the exercise of said option thirty days prior to the expiration of the primary term. It is expressly understood that the lessor does not own the buildings upon said premises, and all of the printed terms of this lease having application only to the buildings and im *521 provements on said lease are not applicable.”

It is undisputed that the option to renew the lease was not exercised.

Before the expiration of this original two-year term, both the lessor and lessee knew that condemnation proceedings for the new highway were imminent. Roy Stanley, manager of appellant’s land department, called Mr. Abbott, one of the lessors, and reminded him that the lease was going to be up on the 2nd (February 2, 1963) and asked him, “ ‘what do we want to do about it’?” The lessor and lessee agreed that the latter would stay on the premises and keep paying rent until the Highway Department “ran them off.” Under this agreement, appellant was in possession on June 19, 1964, the day of taking, and the rent for the full month of June, 1964, had been paid. No notice to vacate had been given. It is undisputed that appellant was legally in possession of the premises under either a month-to-month lease or a tenancy at will and owned all of the improvements. The improvements consisted of a brick office building on a concrete slab, a cement or “batch” plant, a radio antenna consisting of a steel pipe embedded in concrete, a railroad track, and a steel warehouse building. All were permanently affixed to the real estate and were a part thereof.

The only question presented on the previous appeal (391 S.W.2d 818, 819, supra) was the propriety of the court’s order of dismissal.

The Supreme Court of Texas, 400 S.W.

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416 S.W.2d 518, 1967 Tex. App. LEXIS 2783, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/fort-worth-concrete-company-v-state-texapp-1967.