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PHOENIX (AZFamily) — A judge has set a September hearing in the legal fight between Arizona State University and the owner of a historic house in Phoenix.
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An evidentiary hearing is set for September 4 to decide whether ASU can immediately acquire the Louis Emerson House.
The Arizona Board of Regents sued the homeowner of the 124-year-old property on the university’s behalf, after the owner rejected multiple purchase offers.
The university argues it needs the land for its planned medical school campus and is seeking to acquire the property through eminent domain. Eminent domain allows a government entity to take private property for a public use, but it must prove that standard in court.
Local attorney Matthew Bartley said ASU would likely focus its argument on how a new medical school would benefit the public by helping bring more doctors, nurses and other health care workers to the Valley.
“The benefit of the public and future generations [is] that we get more doctors in the area,” Bartley said, adding ASU will likely argue it’s a “public necessity because these jobs are so important.”
But Bartley said the homeowner’s counterargument could be a key issue for a judge: whether taking this specific property meets the legal definition of “public use,” particularly if the site would not be a place the public can access, like a park or public building.
“The goal of the private property owner is to say that this isn’t an adequate public use,” Bartley said. “Because it’s not technically like a public building with the public having access to it, such as like a public park.”
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The case may be complicated by the home’s historic status. Arizona generally has stronger protections than most states against taking private property, and that public entities may face additional hurdles in court, Bartley said.
“It definitely makes things more complicated for ASU,” he said.
The parties must provide evidence to the court by September 1. ASU has said it hopes to open its medical school headquarters by fall 2028.
But Bartley said timelines in eminent domain cases can vary widely — sometime between six months and two years — especially when both sides are disputing the public-use question.
Another factor that could affect the pace of the case: the homeowner appears to be representing himself, Bartley said, which can also influence how quickly proceedings move.
ASU sued to acquire the Louis Emerson building earlier this month, in hopes of demolishing it. The lawsuit names the 89-year-old homeowner Robert Young and his tenant Barry Schwartz as defendants.
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