Federal judge will decide whether Amtrak can take over Union Station for one-third of its value

A federal judge will rule on Amtrak’s bid to use eminent domain to take over Union Station, a major rail hub just blocks from Capitol Hill, for which the current lessee claims a third of its value.

Amtrak, which currently subleases about 13 percent of the building, including the train concourse area and ticketing area, wants to take over the entire lease from its current owner, a private company known as Union Station Investco (USI), according to the suit. archived in April 2022. It claims it needs control to modernize the facilities and is entitled to take over the lease under a law allowing it to acquire property “necessary for the intercity rail transportation of passengers” using eminent domain.

Amtrak CEO Steven Gardner said during a September hearing before Judge Amit Mehta that there was a “mismatch” between the goals of Amtrak and USI, noting that taking the lease would “eliminate this interference and distraction.” seconds in the Wall Street Journal.

The lawsuit was filed a day after Amtrack’s deadline for its $250 million bid had passed. An appraisal cited by USI puts the value at at least $700 million, seconds in court documents.

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) owns the station. More than 40 years ago, Congress awarded the lease to a private company when it passed the Union Station Redevelopment Act to rectify conditions deemed “unsafe.” seconds in the Washington Post.

USI, owned by Rexmark, raised questions about Amtrack’s claim that it can use eminent domain to acquire the lease.

“In short, by using the ‘need’ for capital improvements as a pretext, it appears that Amtrak is wrongly attempting to use its limited condemnation power to obtain an ownership interest for financial reasons, rather than any Amtrak ‘need’ of providing the public with intercity rail travel, as required by law,” USI wrote in filing.

“Amtrak sat back and watched USI painstakingly navigate Union Station through a global pandemic, only to swoop in and try to take USI’s station for pennies on the dollar, when things started looking up” , USI continued. “Federal law does not permit any apparently financially motivated bad faith seizure.”

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