Township of Jackson v. Getzel Bee, LLC
In a unanimous ruling, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that Jackson Township could not condemn two privately owned parcels solely to trade them to a developer in exchange for a separate tract the township wanted to preserve as open space. The Court found the condemned parcels were never intended for public use themselves and that the township's shifting disclosures to the affected owners failed the good-faith standard required in condemnation proceedings.
Why it matters
A 'Kelo'-adjacent limit on land-swap assemblages: municipalities and the developers who rely on them to unlock sites can no longer use condemnation as a private trading mechanism, even when the stated end goal is a public benefit like open-space preservation. REITs and developers with entitlement strategies premised on municipal land swaps should revisit those deal structures.
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