City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans of Foreign Wars v. Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee
Supreme Court of Wisconsin
768 N.W.2d 749 (2009)
Veterans of Foreign Wars (Veterans) (plaintiff) had sold its property in a 1961 leaseback deal for a 99-year lease at $1 annual rent, with no clause protecting the lease's value in condemnation. After the hotel built on the property and the surrounding neighborhood deteriorated, the Redevelopment Authority (defendant) condemned the property for $440,000; a jury found the property had no market value because razing or renovating the hotel cost more than the land was worth undeveloped, and the trial court ordered Veterans to return its share of the award. The court of appeals reversed, adopting a new "fairness-award" doctrine requiring extra compensation to the lessee.
Whether the government may condemn property without compensating a leaseholder for the lease's value, if the property is determined to have no value.