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Investment’s Lower Value Due To Preservation Law Not A ‘Taking’

1978

In Penn Central v. New York City, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that New York City’s denial of a developer’s request to build above Grand Central Station – which the city had named a historic landmark – is not a “taking” requiring “just compensation.” The Court rules that the limits placed on the developers are not so severe that they had lost all benefit of the station as an investment property. “The restrictions imposed are substantially related to the promotion of the general welfare and not only permit reasonable beneficial use of the landmark site.”