Jury Trial Orders Mayor, City of Somerville to Pay $35.3 Million Lawsuit over Eminent Domain Taking at Cobble Hill

By William Tauro

In this week’s Lawyers Weekly. What a joke the city looks like. AND where is the additional $26,528,000.00 million coming from?

City undervalues parcel taken for new public safety building

Action: Real property/eminent domain
Injuries alleged: Undervalued property

Case name: Cobble Hill Center, LLC V.
Somerville Redevelopment Authority

Court/case no.: Woburn Superior Court/No.
1981CV02669
Jury and/or judge: Jury/Judge Christopher
K. Barry-Smith

Demand: Initial offer of settlement was fair market value of $28.16 million; subtracting pro tanto payment of $8.778 million, offer would have meant $19.382 million in “new money*

Highest offer: Initial counteroffer was $15
million in “new money”; parties agreed to 516.55 million in “new money” and reported case settled, but defendant backed out of deal days later

Amount: $35.306 million

Date: May 15, 2023
Attorneys: George A. McLaughlin III, Matthew E. Burke and Joel E. Faller, of The McLaughlin Brothers, Boston (for the plaintiff)

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