AVC takes pride in performing real estate research and analysis designed
to hold up under intense scrutiny. Our work is not limited to environmental
cases. We have provided valuation services and expert witness testimony
in complex and contentious lawsuits involving hundreds of millions of
dollars.
| EXAMPLES OF LITIGATION SERVICES |
| |
East Texas - Research
and valuation of historical surface-rental rights in eleven counties
covering over six million acres in east Texas. The Alabama-Coushatta
tribe had won a lawsuit against the United States claiming that
the US government had usurped its property rights without just compensation.
AVC researched over 1,000 sales and rental covering the period from
1845 (when Texas became a state) until 1954. The assignment also
involved incorporation of timber and mineral/petroleum rights to
estimate the total rental value of the acreage over the 110-year
period. |
| |
Southeast Texas - Appraisal
of a hazardous waste disposal facility near Beaumont. Property consisted
of 3,000 acres of land with a hazardous waste landfill, deep injection
well, and incinerator. The incinerator did not function to full
capacity, and recent changes in EPA regulations had made waste incineration
less profitable. AVC appraised this property for ad valorem
purposes. |
| |
Harris County, Texas - Retrospective appraisal of multiple commercial properties for a bank fraud case. |
| |
Grand Prairie, Texas
- Estimates of unimpaired value, loss of parts taken, and
damages to the remainder for an 18-hole golf course. The State of
Texas acquired two acres to widen a channel easement, affecting
the layout of the course. |
| |
Austin, Texas -
Appraisal of a specialty-beef cattle ranch in eastern Travis County.
State of Texas acquired almost one-half of the acreage for the construction
of a highway, taking all the improvements, over one hundred acres
of improved pasture, and leaving an irregularly shaped remainder with
limited economic use. |
| |
El Paso, Texas -
Appraisal of several newer, high-value homes with unstable soils.
A nearby, poorly constructed detention pond directed high volumes
of groundwater through the subject properties, causing settling,
extensive cracking of foundations and walls, and compromised retention
walls. |
| |
Laredo, Texas -
Appraisal of a 40-acre planned residential subdivision to estimate
unimpaired and impaired value. Late in the development process,
the property owner determined that soils were unstable and substandard
for development. The case involved litigation against a company
that previously had tested the soil and found no significant problems.
Assignment involved estimates of unimpaired property value and real
property damages. |
| |
Williamson County, Texas
- Six tracts proposed for condemnation by the State of Texas
for the construction of State Highway 45 in Round Rock. Assignment
included estimates of value of parts taken and remaining acreage. |
| |
Austin, Texas -
Appraisal of a perpetual utility easement cutting across five tracts
in northeast Austin. This assignment involved estimate of value
of the easement as well as damages to the remaining acreage. |