United States v. Certain Land in Orangetown Tp.

69 F. Supp. 815, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2929
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 14, 1947
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 69 F. Supp. 815 (United States v. Certain Land in Orangetown Tp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Certain Land in Orangetown Tp., 69 F. Supp. 815, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2929 (S.D.N.Y. 1947).

Opinion

BRIGHT, District Judge.

The Government has condemned two parcels of improved real estate in the Town of Orangeburg, Rockland County, New York, designated as A-57 and A-43, for use as a part of Camp Shanks. Plaintiff took possession of them on March 9, 1943, under a declaration of taking, upon which judgment was then entered.

Parcel A-57.

The purported owner of this was the defendant Hans C. Brugger. It contained .59 of an acre and was not situated upon any public highway. The description begins at a point 200 feet southeasterly from the Orangeburg-Tappan Road, and delineates a quadrangle, 102.18 feet on the north side, 248.8 feet in depth on the east side, 100 feet along the rear, and 257.17 feet on the west. The entrance to the property was over an unfinished dirt lane, along which there was no sidewalk. Upon the tract were located three buildings, photographs of which were submitted upon the hearing, and, prior to plaintiff’s taking possession, were all occupied by tenants. At the time I inspected the property, all of the buildings had been razed.

One of these buildings, designated as 4-A, was a two story frame dwelling with seven rooms and basement, bath, hall, with concrete foundations, a pipeless furnace, old style plumbing, and a composition roof. It was rented at $30 a month, and was valued by the expert called for the owner at $4,200, of which $500 was for the land, 50x157, and $3,700 for improvements. This last figure was arrived at by cubing the building at 25^ per cubic foot, which gave a reproduction cost of $4,306 from which was deducted $646 for depreciation. The structure is said to have been close to what was projected as McKay Terrace.

The building 4-B was said to be on the north side of Washington Avenue, which was merely projected and not actually improved. The home was a one story stucco bungalow of four rooms and a bath, with concrete foundation, pipeless hot air furnace, old style plumbing, and a shingle roof. It was rented at $25 a month. Defendant’s expert placed a market value of $2,700 upon it, $500 for land, 50x107; and the • balance for the building, cubed at 2$$ per cubic foot, gave a reproduction cost of $2,587, from which was deducted $388 for depreciation. This building is said to have been located 40 or 50 feet easterly of 4-A.

*817 The third dwelling, 4— C, was located upon a plot 100x100. It was a very small four-room and hath bungalow with no cellar, and was constructed of concrete blocks. Its steam plant was located in the rear. Defendant’s expert placed a market value upon it of $2,245, of which $500 was for the land. He cubed the contents of the building at 23<¡¡ a foot, aggregating $2,053, from which he deducted $308, for depreciation, leaving a net of $1,745. The building was rented for $25 a month; was said to have been located on the rear part of the tract about 200 feet north of 4-A and 4 — B; and between 4-A and 4-B there was a dirt driveway going back to 4-C.

The owner had purchased the entire property for $2,500 on June 20, 1942, the buildings then being in an unfinished state, and had thereafter improved the three dwellings, spending between $1,400 and $1,900 for that purpose, so that they could be rented.

Defendant’s witness thus placed a total value upon parcel A-57 of $9,145, of which $1,500 was for the land (nearly $3,000 per acre) and $7645 for the building. He stated upon his cross-examination that he arrived at this in two ways, one by reproduction cost less depreciation, and the other by capitalizing the rental value. He did not take into consideration any sales in the neighborhood, finding, so he says, none comparable, nor was he influenced by the assessment value placed upon the property. He used the same rate of physical depreciation — 15%—as to each of the buildings, considering them to be each approximately fifteen years old.

Plaintiffs expert stated that, in his opin-' ion, the fair market value of Parcel A-57 was $5,000. He was not cross-examined.

He submitted a list of ten sales of properties in the immediate vicinity of the two parcels in question, 5 of them of improved property, and the balance unimproved, which he considered comparable, and which, in part at least, formed the basis for his estimated value of the two parcels in question. The location of these various plots is shown on plaintiff’s exhibit 6, and photographic exhibits of some of them were also submitted.

Parcel A-44, adjoining parcel A-43 on the south and about 2800 feet north of Parcel A-57, was located on an unimproved plot 100x400, fronting on Western Avenue and adjoining in the rear the New York Central Railroad. It sold in November, 1944, for $1,000 or $10 a foot front.

Parcel A-45, unimproved, % mile north of A-57, and 100 feet away from A-43, had 175 feet on Western Highway and was 450 feet in depth, the rear adjoining the railroad. It was sold in January, 1940, for $2,000, or on the basis of $11 a foot front.

Parcel A-49, 1200 feet north of A-57 and about 1300 feet south of A-43, consisting of 7.86 acres, also unimproved, and with a frontage of 489 feet on Western Highway, and a depth of 555 feet back to the railroad, sold in June 1941 for $1500, or $3 a foot front, or about $200 an acre.

Parcel A-50, unimproved, 800 feet north of A-57 and 700 feet south of A-43, consisting of 4.48 acres, had 342 feet frontage on Western. Highway, and a depth to the railroad of 535 feet. It sold in July 1939 for $2500, or about $7 a foot front, or a little over $500 an acre.

Parcel A-51, .34 of an acre, was located 550 feet north of A-57 and about 2,000 feet south of A-43. It fronted for 100 feet on Western Highway, and was 150 feet in depth. It had on it a one-family six-room stucco dwelling and a two-car garage, and sold for $6500 in December 1938.

Parcels A-53 and 49, unimproved, A-53 adjoining parcel A-57, A-49 being about 1200 feet north of it, and both parcels being joined by a neck of land about 150 feet in width and running along the railroad for about 1200 feet, had in it 15.98 acres. The two parcels had 850 feet road frontage on Western Highway and was sold in 1941 for $1500 or at the rate of a little less than $2 a foot front, or $100 an acre.

Parcel D-15 was located 2500 feet north of A-57 and about 550 feet from A-43, and consisted of .345 of an acre, 100 x 150. It had on it a three-room bungalow with bath and was situated on Mary Frances Street, 200 feet west of Western Highway. It sold in September 1942 for $1750 and is shown on plaintiff’s Exhibit 2.

*818 Parcel D-28 is located 3200 feet north of A-57, and about across the street from A-43, and had on it two houses. One of the houses on the plot which he said was every bit as desirable as the dwelling on A-43, had 125 feet frontage on Western Highway and was 200 feet in depth. The dwelling was a two-story Dutch Colonial frame house, with six rooms and bath, vapor heat, fireplace and double garage. It sold in February 1941 for $4500 and is shown on plaintiff’s Exhibit 3. The other house was a one-family frame bungalow with bath, hot air heat, but needed decorating, cleaning and general repairs. It sold in January 1941 for $2200 and is shown on plaintiff’s Exhibit 4.

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Bluebook (online)
69 F. Supp. 815, 1947 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2929, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-certain-land-in-orangetown-tp-nysd-1947.