Esplanade Properties, Llc, a Washington Limited Liability Company v. City of Seattle

Plaintiff Esplanade Properties, LLC (“Esplanade”) challenges the legality of the City of Seattle’s (“the City’s”) denial of its application to develop shoreline property on Elliot Bay in Seattle, Washington. Esplanade contends that the City’s action resulted in a complete deprivation of economic use of its property, constituting an inverse condemnation in violation of federal and state constitutional law, and violating both federal and state substantive due process. Specifically, plaintiff appeals three decisions of the district court which, in toto, resulted in the dismissal of its claims against the defendant, to wit, granting summary judgment to the defendant on plaintiffs takings claim, granting summary judgment to the defendant on plaintiffs federal substantive due process claim, and dismissing plaintiffs state substantive due process claim. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and we affirm.

I. BACKGROUND

In 1992, Esplanade began a long, and ultimately unsuccessful, process of attempting to secure permission to construct single-family residential housing on and over tidelands located below Magnolia bluff, near both a large city park and a large marina. The property…