An elderly homeowner in Phoenix is being sued by Arizona State University to seize his property, the site of a historic home dating back to before Arizona joined the Union.
Homeowner Robert Young, 89, has owned the Louis Emerson House for over 50 years and says he’s rejected multiple offers from ASU to purchase his property, at first turning down $190,000 then a $999,000 offer.
“The house is key to the early development of the city,” Young told Fox 10 Phoenix of the home, which was added to the Phoenix Historic Property Register in May 1990.
Now, ASU and the Arizona Board of Regents are trying to circumvent the homeowner by filing a lawsuit with the Maricopa County Superior Court, attempting to seize the property from underneath him via eminent domain.
The university contends the parcel of land the house sits on is crucial for the development of a new university medical center.
In their lawsuit, ASU wrote the the project was “public use authorized by law” and would “result in the greatest public good.”
In a statement to Fox 10, ASU wrote, “The university made several offers to the owner to purchase the parcel, including options allowing for the house to be moved.”
However, Young says the amount of the offers would not be enough to cover the cost of relocating the home elsewhere, arguing estimates run as high as $2 to $3 million.
He’s also taken aback that an academic organization is trying to “destroy” part of the city’s history.
“I think it’s just appalling that an institution of higher learning can’t appreciate that fact and wants to destroy it,” Young said, adding, “It’s kind of gut-wrenching.”
The man leasing the home, Barry Schwartz, has lived there for 8 years, and is equally unnerved by recent developments, saying, “It’s sad. It’s sort of tragic.”
“They’re all about sustainability. Well, you need to sustain this house and its history,” he added.
The Louis Emerson House has stood in downtown Phoenix for 124 years, after being moved around 100 feet in the 1990s.
Historian Marshall Shore told Fox 10, “The house you’re looking at dates from 1902, long before Arizona was even a state,” adding, “It’s got layer, upon layer, upon layer, of stories and history built into its fabric.”
The homeowner and its renter have launched a petition seeking signatures to “send a clear message that Phoenix’s history is worth preserving.”
Congressman Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) slammed eminent domain as “theft” on X, telling ASU, “you should be ashamed of yourself.”
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3 Responses
Reminds me of Katy Perry suing the elderly Catholic nuns to screw them out of their convent.
Legalized theft, just like most things the government does.
Soulless institutions hate the individual