Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of Springfield v. Holland

506 S.W.2d 469, 1974 Mo. App. LEXIS 1251
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 19, 1974
DocketNo. 9293
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 506 S.W.2d 469 (Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of Springfield v. Holland) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of the City of Springfield v. Holland, 506 S.W.2d 469, 1974 Mo. App. LEXIS 1251 (Mo. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

BILLINGS, Judge.

A Greene County jury awarded the defendant $92,000.00 for plaintiff’s taking by condemnation defendant’s land and building, as part of urban renewal, in the downtown Springfield area. Plaintiff contends the trial court erred in permitting evidence of reproduction cost and non-comparable sales to be heard by the jury and further complains that the verdict was excessive. We affirm.

[470]*470The Odd Fellows building was a three-story brick and tile structure with a full basement. The first floor contained commercial office space a part of which was rented to tenants. A kitchen and dining hall for lodge members and their families took up most of the second floor area with three small rooms being available for rental. Defendant’s lodge hall and regalia rooms were located on the top floor and regularly used.

Qualified real estate appraisers appeared as expert witnesses for both parties at the trial and were in agreement that there are generally three accepted methods of appraising real estate on which improvements are located. These were described as the capitalization of income produced by the property, comparable sales, and, the reproduction cost less depreciation plus the value of the land.

As is not uncommon in condemnation proceedings the evidence offered by the parties as to the fair market value of the Odd Fellows was at considerable variance. Using the reproduction cost less depreciation plus the value of the land and the comparable sales methods the defendant’s experts voiced opinions of fair market value which ranged from $92,000.00 to $98,500.00. ,Using the capitalization of income and comparable sales approaches, or a combination of all three methods, plaintiff’s witnesses determined the market value to be between $22,300.00 and $43,600.00.

Defendant’s value witnesses explained they did not consider the capitalization of income method because the Odd Fellows building was built and primarily used as meeting place for the lodge and there was no substantial income from the space available for rentals. Further, it was pointed out, the limited commercial space had become even more difficult to rent by reason of the public’s awareness that the building was slated for demolition.

Plaintiff’s witnesses were frank to admit that the capitalization of income method was not a fair approach if one considered the highest and best use of the property to be that of a lodge building. , Because of the lack of income produced one of the witnesses, in an earlier appraisal of the property on behalf of plaintiff, had utilized the reproduction cost method to arrive at an opinion as to fair market value. In the main, plaintiff’s appraisers considered the highest and best use of the Odd Fellows property to be “commercial” or for apartments — although one such witness who thought the best use would be for apartments acknowledged he did not appraise the property on that basis.

“Generally speaking, all evidence of value is admissible in a condemnation suit which an ordinarily prudent person would take into account in reaching his conclusion respecting the fair market value of the property under consideration . . .” City of St. Louis v. Paramount Shoe Mfg. Co., 237 Mo.App. 200, 168 S.W.2d 149, 155 (1943); 29A C.J.S. Eminent Domain § 273(1) (1965).

In United States v. Becktold Co., 129 F.2d 473, 477 (8th Cir. 1942), the court considered the contention advanced by plaintiff in this appeal with respect to the use of the reconstruction cost method. “It is urged by plaintiff that the Missouri courts have held to the contrary, and in support of that contention the case of City of St. Louis v. Turner, 331 Mo. 834, 55 S.W.2d 942, 944, is relied on. In that case the court said that all the testimony was to the effect that the building was obsolete and not adapted to the character of the land. But the court said that, ‘It is true that where the character of the structures is well adapted to the kind of land upon which they are erected, the cost of the buildings and fixtures, after making the proper deductions for depreciation by wear and tear, may be a reasonable test of the amount by which they enhance the market value of the land.’ ” Id. at 478.

In State v. Cone, 338 S.W.2d 22, 27 (Mo. 1960), a condemnation suit involving land and a building located thereon, the court stated: “The useful lifespan and rate [471]*471of depreciation of the Colfry building was an issue in the case as a factor in determining the fair market value of the property by both of the well known methods of reproduction cost less depreciation, and capitalization of earnings. Whenever consideration is given to the cost of reproduction as an element in the determination of market value, it is recognized that a proper deduction must be made for depreciation.”

There is no evidence in the record that the Odd Fellows building was obsolete and on the contrary there was evidence that the structure was sound and at least in average condition for a building its age. It was admitted by all appraisal witnesses that the building enhanced the value of the land. There was competent evidence heard by the jury as to the reproduction cost and depreciation of the building. We hold that the reproduction cost less depreciation, plus value of the land, were factors and elements that qualified witnesses could consider in arriving at their opinions as to the fair market value of the subject property.

Plaintiff’s next complaint is directed to the consideration by defendant’s experts of dissimilar properties in using the comparable sales approach in determining market value. In City of St. Louis v. Vasquez, 341 S.W.2d 839 (Mo. 1961), the law of this state on this proposition is summarized as follows at pp. 850-851: “Sales of land of like character and similarly situated to that in question, not too remote in point of time, are admissible on the question of value as an aid to the jury in determining the damages to which the owner is entitled . The importance of other sales depends not only on their proximity in point of time but also upon ‘similarity in location, and in the uses to which the properties may be adaptable,’ ... as well as in similarity of size of the tracts being compared. No two parcels of land are exactly alike. ‘It is evident that there may be considerable differences in the size, shape, situation, and immediate surroundings of two estates and perhaps in other respects, and yet the price which one brought may be of substantial assistance in determining the value of the other.’ . It is for the trial judge to exercise a wise judicial discretion in determining whether the two parcels are of sufficient similarity to have some bearing on the question of value. . . The jury verdict will not be upset on the ground of dissimilarity until the trial court abuses its discretion, by permitting the consideration of sales so dissimilar in pertinent comparison factors as to give the jury no assistance in the determination of the market value . . . The trial court is allowed a considerable latitude in this respect.” (citations omitted)

In State ex rel. State Highway Commission of Mo. v.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State ex rel. Missouri Highway & Transportation Commission v. Menley
778 S.W.2d 9 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1989)
Del-Mar Redevelopment Corp. v. Associated Garages, Inc.
726 S.W.2d 866 (Missouri Court of Appeals, 1987)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
506 S.W.2d 469, 1974 Mo. App. LEXIS 1251, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/land-clearance-for-redevelopment-authority-of-the-city-of-springfield-v-moctapp-1974.