United States v. Polar Star Alaska Housing Corp

At the end of a twenty-year lease program in which Polar Star Alaska Housing Corp. (“Polar Star”) owned 300 units of family housing located on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and leased them back to the Air Force, Polar Star and the United States could not agree on the purchase price of the houses. They similarly could not agree on the amount of rent payable for an additional year of the lease. The United States first sent notice of a one-year renewal of the lease, then filed a protective eminent domain action to condemn a five-month leasehold in the houses. The district court ruled that the United States’ renewal notice was effective, and therefore no taking had occurred. The district court then concluded that Polar Star’s request that the court determine the amount of rent due on the renewal term was, in essence, a claim on the contract over which it lacked jurisdiction, and dismissed. Polar Star appeals a number of the district court’s rulings. Because each of these rulings was correct, we affirm

BACKGROUND

In 1984, the United States Air Force (at times referred to as “Air Force,” “United States,” or “Government”) solicited bids for a military housing project on…