Marines to pay $160M for Blount property

[asonj23]

Marines to pay $160M for Blount property

Government must shell out almost $55 million more than it planned; Gate satisfied with verdict, attorney says.

By TIMOTHY J. GIBBONS, The Times-Union

The Marine Corps must pay $160 million for land on Blount Island that it seized through its eminent domain powers, a jury ruled Monday, requiring the government to pay almost $55 million more than it had planned.

The Marines seized the 1,100 acres on and around Blount Island in August 2004 and paid property owner Gate Maritime Properties $101 million for the land. Later, it bumped its payment to almost $106 million.

Read the rest.

Gate Maritime must have had some expensive lawyers on the case to get even more money out of the deal versus just taking what was offered in the name of national security.

The military moved to buy the entire parcel when it decided to upgrade the site to a logistics base and said it needed to own the land before making improvements.

I'm wondering what this logistics base would consist of. Could their be the potential for a substantial increase in Marine activity?