A Cole County judge Friday condemned four historic Capitol Avenue properties and ordered appraisals of the properties to determine their values as part of an eminent domain lawsuit.
Eminent domain is a process for government agencies to take control of private property for public use. In this instance, the properties are being sought as part of an effort to fight blight in the area. The four properties were identified as having fallen into disrepair and became targets of vandals or homes for feral animals.
Since 2017, the Jefferson City Housing Authority has purchased nine properties in the East Capitol Avenue Urban Renewal Area with financial help from the city. The Housing Authority is in its third round of eminent domain lawsuits; this time, it involves four properties owned by Barbara Buescher: 413-415, 417, 419, and 517-519 E. Capitol Ave.
As part of the ruling Friday, Green appointed condemnation commissioners to appraise the properties, some of which share a plot of land or have two addresses. The appraised value would determine how much the Housing Authority would pay for each property before taking ownership of them.
On Tuesday, Amy VanOverschelde, Housing Authority project specialist, said she isn't sure how long the appraisals will take.
"I think they (the condemnation commissioners) have several weeks to be able to drive by and look at the properties," she said. "Sometimes ... they'll do it individually, and then they'll get together and kind of average their prices together. Sometimes they decide together what they think the properties are worth."
VanOverschelde said she provided the condemnation commissioners with previous appraisals and other information the Housing Authority has about the properties.
However, the information available is limited. Neither the Housing Authority nor the commissioners can enter the buildings; Jefferson City code enforcement has boarded up most of the houses because of safety concerns.
"They're basically just appraising the square footage and what they can see on the outside of the building," VanOverschelde said. "Most of the buildings have been boarded up, so it's not like you can see in the windows either."
And not all the properties have buildings on them anymore.
Jefferson City demolished the buildings at 417 and 519 E. Capitol Ave. forsafety concerns and uninhabitable conditions.
In November, 417 E. Capitol Ave. was demolished because the roof was detached and sliding off the exterior walls.
In October 2020, the city demolished 519 E. Capitol Ave. because a tree was growing through the house. In a separate ruling Friday, Judge Green ordered Buescher to pay $98,569 for demolition costs for 519 E. Capitol Ave.
The city considers 517 E. Capitol Ave., which shares the sames property with 519 E. Capitol Ave., dangerous due to uninhabitable conditions, but not because of any structural issues.
The 419 E. Capitol Ave. house and the house at 413-415 E. Capitol Ave., which shares the two addresses, are abandoned and boarded up. However, the two structures have not been declared dangerous.
Through the years, code enforcement officers have done lawn care along with boarded up doors and windows at all four of the Buescher properties.
According to documents on the city's website, the four properties collectively have more than $164,700 in tax liens -- which includes the cost for both demolitions. When the city does abatement work on a property to address a safety concern, it places a tax lien on the property to recoup the costs.
The money the Housing Authority would pay to acquire the four properties would first be used to pay off any tax liens on the property before any leftover funds, if there are any, would go to Buescher.