Matter of Coalition for Fairness in Soho & Noho, Inc. v City of New York

Holding The Court held that the City’s requirement to pay a fee to convert Joint Living-Work Quarters for Artists (JLWQA) units to unrestricted residential use does not constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment. The majority reasoned that petitioners do not possess a compensable property interest in the conversion itself, and the fee is not a monetary exaction demanded in lieu of a transfer of a specific property interest.

The court’s words

we conclude that petitioners do not have a compensable property interest within the meaning of the Takings Clause

46 NY3d 1, at the official text

the newly granted opportunity to transform the essential nature of a restricted JLWQA unit into a different, unrestricted interest is not in itself a property interest

46 NY3d 1, at the official text

the Fee is not requested in lieu of any such transfer, nor is it commandeered from any specific bank account

46 NY3d 1, at the official text

Koontz is properly understood as limited to in lieu of fees, where a property owner faces a choice between paying money or transferring an interest in real property

46 NY3d 1, at the official text