Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The City of Buffalo is moving forward with eminent domain procedure for buildings located at 108 and 110 South Park Avenue in the historical Cobblestone District in an attempt to prevent them from further damage or demolition.
Legal expert and attorney Paul Cambria was on WBEN Wednesday morning breaking down the process of eminent domain, "The government can condemn, if you will, your property, buy it from you at a fair price, if they can demonstrate that it is for a public purpose. You own the property, you'll get a notice from the city and you'll have an opportunity to be heard. If you can persuade a court, that there really isn't a public purpose, maybe they're just trying to block your project, that sort of thing, you may be able to defeat it. But it's very difficult to defeat. Assuming the government gets over the public purpose part, then the next stage is they have to pay you a fair market value for your property."
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According to the City of Buffalo, as these buildings are in a preservation district, they would like to keep these properties intact and use them for something that will benefit the community.
Owner of the properties, Darryl Carr, is trying to demolish the buildings and build a 55-story condominium and retail center, according to reports.
As the buildings currently stand, scaffolding is around portions of the empty pre-1900s brick buildings to protect against falling bricks.
A public hearing is now scheduled for Jan. 10th at 5 p.m.
"I would assume that the city is trying to say that this is a historic area, we're trying to preserve it as such and development should be curtailed in some way. We're willing to pay a fair, fair market value for your property. Of course, I'm sure the landowner says, 'Well, wait a minute, if I got to build my project, that would be a lot more money that I would be earning from this project.' So, you know, it'll be that kind of an arm wrestle in court," said Cambria.