By Ann Briggs

We work with property owners to purchase land needed for highway improvements, such as this roundabout.

At some point in our life most of us will buy or sell a house, and we’ll call on a real estate agent to help us through that complicated process. Buying and selling property for transportation projects is equally complex, and we have a team of Real Estate Service specialists who act as real estate agents, relocation specialists, property managers, title researchers and appraisers to get us through the maze.

We auction off properties that are no longer needed for highway purposes. Often, these surplus properties are strips of land next to a highway, parcels that were used for construction and are no longer needed, or former pit, quarry and maintenance sites.

Occasionally a large parcel such as the 55-acre lot in the city of Renton, which is now being offered for bids, is placed on the auction block. We bought the site in the late 1950s and used it as sand and gravel pit.

Revenue from the sale of surplus properties goes back to the motor vehicle fund to be used for transportation purposes. Since 2009, the surplus property program has generated more than $20 million. That money is made available to city, county and state agencies to fund road, street and highway projects.

What’s a first step in building a road? Having someplace to put it

A key difference in our buying process that you might not experience when buying a house, is the property we’re looking at is usually not on the market for sale. We try to find transportation solutions that have the least amount of impact on homes and businesses, but that’s not always possible, especially in urban areas. That’s where our Real Estate Services team steps in.

Just as your real estate agent looks at comparable home sales in the area when you are buying or selling a home, we do the same when establishing a fair value for the property we want to acquire. We use a market analysis for properties under $25,000 and do a full appraisal for anything over. With this information, we begin good faith negotiations (pdf 367 kb) with the owner. At times, we may enlist a third-party mediator if negotiations stall. Only when all else fails, do we use the state’s right of eminent domain and go through condemnation proceedings.

When a property is acquired, the state pays all taxes and fees that would normally be charged to the seller. The reason is that the seller did not initiate the sale – we did. If a property is acquired and affects the ability of the occupancy to continue, we help the owner, tenant or business find a replacement property, cover all costs associated with moving and even help renters with payments for a set number of months, if they are relocated to a higher-cost rental unit.

It’s our job to ensure that we make good use of taxpayers’ money and deliver needed transportation improvements, but we also recognize that property owners have invested a great deal – monetarily and emotionally – in their property. In the end, we want them to come away feeling that they were treated fairly.

If you have ever have had to move or have bought or sold a house, you know how demanding it can be. Now imagine having to do this on a larger scale - in multiples.

On the heels of the Legislature passing the 2003 and 2005 gas taxes, we embarked on a journey to provide relief to commuters who live on the eastside of Lake Washington. Our goal, as tasked by the legislature: to enhance I-405 to meet the needs of the ever-growing population.

If you’ve ever driven I-405, you can see for yourself how complex this project is. There just isn’t much room to make necessary changes as you approach SR 520 going northbound through Bellevue. In order to make those changes, we needed to purchase some adjoining properties and help relocate those businesses or individuals. As with any project, we follow a long and diligent process to make sure that the decisions we make provide the most value to you, the taxpayer, fairness to affected property owners and provide the most relief for safety and congestion to the commuter.

Just like buying a house, purchasing real estate and helping folks relocate can be quite a challenge.
We have established rules that we follow to be good stewards. I am sure you can understand how this could be an emotional process for some while for others it creates an opportunity that they may not otherwise have had.

On the I-405, corridor, 155 business and residential relocations were needed to improve this vital roadway. We used a cost-effective consultant to visit each business or property owner individually to provide a relocation plan. Washington’s Relocation Assistance program includes an appeal process for those needing to relocate. For this corridor project, only nine individuals went on to the next step of disagreement (approximately 6%). One individual out of that nine went on to pursue the entire appeals process.

Whenever you‘re dealing in real estate and relocation, there are times when a party is looking for a higher number. To ensure impartiality, we took the next step and sent this appeal to a third party, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

In 2009, the FHWA agreed with the decision on compensation that we provided the individual. They provided good recommendations in the consultant oversight process. We immediately added the FHWA recommendations to the state’s Relocation Assistance program in order to refine and clarify the process. During this appeal, the process we followed met the approval of the FHWA and two separate judges. The property owner’s claim was recently dismissed in April of 2011.

Following the direction we are provided, ensuring the process works for the property owners, businesses and individuals we work with, and at the same time, being good stewards of taxpayer dollars is never easy. When a third party reviews and confirms that you have done it right, it really helps to tell the story.

We are committed to on time and on budget project delivery. For more information on this project:
www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/i405/NE8thtoSR520/