State v. ADSS Properties, Inc.

878 S.W.2d 607, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1586, 1994 WL 238841
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedMarch 14, 1994
Docket04-93-00041-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 878 S.W.2d 607 (State v. ADSS Properties, Inc.) 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
State v. ADSS Properties, Inc., 878 S.W.2d 607, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1586, 1994 WL 238841 (Tex. Ct. App. 1994).

Opinion

OPINION

BISSETT, Justice

(Assigned).

This is a suit by the State of Texas, (hereinafter “the state”) to condemn 0.651 of an acre out of an 8.683-acre tract of land located in Bexar County, Texas. The purpose of the taking was to widen State Loop 1604 from a two-lane facility to a four-lane controlled access highway, with frontage roads. The state is the condemnor and ADSS Properties, Inc. is the condemnee. Following the award of Special Commissioners to ADSS Properties, Inc. in the amount of $95,000, objections were filed by ADSS Properties, Inc. on August 18, 1988, and trial to a jury began on October 11, 1991.

BACKGROUND

The condemnor, the state, on the 7th day of September 1988, deposited into the registry of the trial court the sum of ninety-five thousand and no/100 dollars ($95,000.00) for the use and benefit of ADSS Properties, Inc. and Apple Ready-Mix, Inc. 2

Two issues were submitted to the jury. The first issue required the jury to find the market value of the 0.651-acre tract condemned for highway purposes as of September 7, 1988, the date of taking. The jury found the market value of the tract taken by *609 condemnation to be $96,416.00. The second issue required the jury to find the reduction, if any, in the market value of the remaining property. The jury found the reduction in the market value of the remainder of the tract to be $2,215.00.

ADSS Properties, Inc. filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the ground that the verdict of the jury was not supported by probative evidence because the state’s appraisal was reached by “averaging.” The motion was granted and judgment was rendered for ADSS Properties, Inc. The trial court found in the judgment that the amount of the judgment in favor of ADSS Properties, Inc. should be “the sum of $113,-428 plus the sum of $253,425, less the sum of $95,000 ... paid” by the state. Accordingly, judgment was rendered that ADSS Properties, Inc. recover from the state “the sum of $365,879.12,” which included pre-judgment interest on $271,853 at the rate of 6 percent per annum from September 1,1988, plus prejudgment interest from September 1, 1988, until August 15, 1992, at the rate of 10 percent per annum, and post-judgment interest on $365,879.12 from date of judgment until paid at the rate of 10 percent per annum. We reverse and render.

The State of Texas filed a condemnation action to obtain needed right-of-way for the improvement of State Loop 1604 in San Antonio, Texas. The case to determine the amount of compensation the state should be required to pay was tried before a jury. Each party had an opportunity to present its respective theory of the case, and each did so. The jury, for whatever reasons, found the landowner’s evidence less persuasive than what was presented by the state.

After the trial was over and the jury discharged, the landowner moved for and obtained judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the ground that the testimony presented by the state’s valuation expert should be disregarded because it was based on an improper method of valuation. Judgment was rendered for the landowner on the lowest valuation evidence considered by the court to be supported by probative evidence.

The state argues that its appraisal witness used proper appraisal methodology in valuing the property taken, and, therefore, there exists no basis for the trial court to disregard the findings by the jury.

ADSS Properties, Inc., the landowner, argues that it is beyond dispute that the land which was condemned had, at the time of taking, a higher value than the remainder of the 8.683 acres, which was further removed from State Loop 1604. It also argues that the remainder had flooding problems, and that it was improper for the state’s appraiser to “average” the lower priced acreage in the remainder with the higher priced highway frontage acreage which was condemned.

In 1988, the state, pursuant to its right of eminent domain, sought the fee simple title to a 0.651-acre tract of land owned by ADSS Properties, Inc. The land taken by condemnation is a strip approximately 113 feet by 258 feet in dimension and is out of the tract of 8.683 acres.

The 8.683-acre tract is a rectangular tract, being approximately 250 feet wide, fronting on State Loop 1604, and is about 1,500 feet deep. The tract was purchased by Apple Ready Mix, Inc. from Del Wurzbach on January 10,1984, for $178,000.00, which calculated to be $0.47 per square foot. Later, Apple Ready-Mix, Inc. changed its name to ADSS Properties, Inc. Mr. Dan Schoenfeld was the sole owner of Apple Ready-Mix, Inc., and is the sole owner of ADSS Properties, Inc., (hereinafter referred to as “the landowner”). Apple Ready-Mix, Inc. filed a disclaimer in the present suit.

Following the objections to the award of $95,000 made by the commissioners to ADSS Properties, Inc., trial commenced before a jury. The state presented value evidence through Mr. A.C. Schwethelm, a San Antonio area appraiser, and the landowner presented value evidence through Mr. Tom F. McNeil and Mr. Kirby Gholson, San Antonio area appraisers. All duly qualified as expert witnesses in the field of appraising real property. Each appraiser demonstrated familiarity with the subject property and the neighborhood in which it is located. Each identified and described several photographs and discussed the subject land’s attributes and the factors which influenced value estimates.

*610 There is a wet weather creek that crosses the 8.688 acres diagonally, consisting of approximately 0.717 of an acre; the drainage area was designated by Mr. Schwethelm during the testimony as Drainage Area No. 1. The landowner placed a drainage pipe and filled in this drainage area to allow use to be made of the rear two-thirds of the property. A second drainage area lies to the rear of the property, which was designated during the testimony as Drainage Area No. 2, and consists of approximately 0.688 of an acre. Eighty percent of the 8.683-acre tract is in the Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone.

Most of the land in the immediate vicinity of the subject land is undeveloped, but the area is in transition to being developed, both residentially and commercially, and is in the path of commercial development.

The landowner’s theory of the case was that the highest and best use of the property is for a combination asphalt and concrete batching plant site and that the taking impacts severely the value of the remainder of the property for that use. Mr. Schoenfeld testified regarding the ideal location of the property and of the many economic advantages which inure to the batch plant business from such location. He testified that having the plant next to a quarry offers two principal advantages: 1) a ready supply of raw materials is available, which lessens the need to stockpile such materials and reduces inventory costs; and 2) the cost of transporting the materials is reduced somewhat by being able to haul quantities well in excess of legal load limits and by being able to use heavy trucks which are prohibited from using the highway system.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
878 S.W.2d 607, 1994 Tex. App. LEXIS 1586, 1994 WL 238841, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-adss-properties-inc-texapp-1994.