Peter Kiewit Sons' Co. v. Richmond Redevelopment Agency

Defendant appeals from a judgment granting a peremptory writ of mandate which directed it to find plaintiff to be a displaced person within the meaning of Government Code section 7260, subdivision (c) and to determine the amount of relocation benefits to which plaintiff is entitled under section 7262.

In September 1977, the Richmond Redevelopment Agency (Agency) purchased approximately 362 acres, some of it submerged, from Santa Fe Land and Development (Santa Fe). At the time plaintiff occupied some 64 acres of the property under a lease from Santa Fe. Plaintiff had used the 64-acre site under a succession of leases originating in the early 1950’s for marine construction and concrete precasting activities. The lease in effect at the time of the purchase had been entered into in 1972, and then extended by a supplemental agreement in 1976, with an expiration date of March 31, 1980. No new lease was ever executed between the Agency and plaintiff.

Redevelopment of the Santa Fe land was under study as early as 1971. By 1975 an urban renewal plan for the area had been adopted. Before Santa Fe sold its property to the Agency it had contemplated developing the property under an…