15 hours ago
New Valley Bank sues Springfield after eminent domain taking at DPW's landlocked warehouse
SPRINGFIELD — The city took an acre-sized parking lot at 90-120 Tapley St. by eminent domain in 2023, so it would have more parking for its public works headquarters next door.
The city paid the property's owners $450,000.
But that was inadequate compensation, according to a suit against the city filed this week in Hampden Superior Court by New Valley Bank & Trust Co.
The bank says the city's eminent domain taking to expand the Richard Neal Municipal Operations Center at 70 Tapley St. made the loading docks at the warehouse for 90-120 Tapley inaccessible, costing its New York City-based owners a tenant and knocking $1.6 million from the property's estimated value.
The land and warehouse at 90-120 Tapley was estimated to be worth $4.4 million to $4.7 million, according to the suit.
The owners, New York City-headquartered Top Rock Holdings, have been unable to find a new tenant after a business — L & W Supply Co., which needed a showroom and warehouse for building supplies — backed out of its lease.
The warehouse remains unrented, according to the suit.
It is offered for sale or lease, according to signs posted out front and in an online listing. The prices are not disclosed.
Springfield-based New Valley Bank & Trust Co. lent the owners a $3.3 million mortgage on the property in March 2023, according to documents on file at the Hampden County Registry of Deeds.
That's about six months before the city filed an order of taking on Sept. 18, 2023.
In that document, the city explains its need for more space for vehicles, supplies and its operations center, as well as to maneuver vehicles used in snow removal, trash pickup and other municipal operations.
Lawyers for the city and for the bank did not return calls and emails Wednesday.
In eminent domain cases, property owners have the opportunity to accept payment under protest, reserving their right to go to court and seek more money.
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