City of Scottdale Pays Largest Condemnation Award in History of Arizona Eminent Domain Trials
The City of Scottsdale voted to pay the full jury award, plus statutory interest, which amounted to $92,000,000. The City decided to pay the judgment rather appeal the jury's award.
The jury award was the largest award in the history or Arizona trials in eminent domain actions. This was also one of the largest jury verdicts in the United States for trials that occurred in 2008.
The City had condemned Toll Brothers' land that Toll had planned to development into a high-end residential single family community. Toll's land was condemned for the McDowell Sonoran Preserve, a project where the City wished to preserve desert land in its natural state and prohibit development.The City had appraised the 383 acres for $82,000 per acre or about $31,000,000.
The jury rejected the City's appraisal, and found that the fair market value of the land was about $214,000 per acre, or $82,000,000. Although the City threatened to appeal, the City ultimately realized that the jury's decision was fair and that it did not have a viable appeal.
