A Courthouse Plaza office building that Arlington County officials have been eyeing for years is on the market, and county officials say that if they can't agree with its owners on a price, they'll consider seizing the building under eminent domain.
Eminent domain, the government practice of seizing private property for public uses like schools or roads, is a rarely used tactic for the county, officials say. But the county is willing to use it if officials can't reach an agreement with the owners of the seven-story office building at 2020 14th St. N., which the county wants to use as a homeless shelter.
County Manager Barbara Donnellan said the building's asking price is "a couple million" above the county's estimated value of $25.5 million, and the county is hoping to convince the building's Toronto-based owners, Breof Thomas Reo, to lower it.
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