Eminent Domain and Santa Cruz

There was a vacant lot in downtown Santa Cruz (plus three adjacent shops) that the Santa Cruz city council was threatening to seize under eminent domain for economic reasons; they were tired of seeing a vacant lot instead of some use that could be generating more tax dollars.

Well, the story has a different ending now - the owner of the lot sold the land to a developer who will be putting condos and a parking structure on the site. The three existing shops will be relocated (somewhere) as part of the deal. The owner's children (both adults in their own right) apparently worked out a deal with an interested developer (for whom the lot was being seized for) when it was obvious that the eminent domain case was going forward, and the owner agreed with the deal.

Read about the resolution here.