DURHAM --
Durham County went to court Thursday hoping to leave as the new owner of a prime piece of downtown real estate where it will eventually build a new courthouse.
But a Superior Court judge made the county cool its heels, saying it first had to add the 158 people renting storage space from the current owner -- U-Haul -- to the eminent domain lawsuit it has filed. The county earlier this year sued to wrest the South Mangum Street property away from U-Haul, which has operated there since 1977.
The county avoided a similar court battle with the owners of an adjacent downtown business in March, agreeing to buy the Scarborough & Hargett Funeral Home property for $3.75 million.
U-Haul now has at least 160 more days before it will lose the property. The company's attorney, Jay Ferguson, said the rental agency is in the process of finding a new Durham site near the former South Square mall and probably will be able to move within that time frame.
But he ripped the county for its attempt to take ownership of the land through a legal action Thursday. Earlier in the week, the county made an unacceptably low purchase offer for the property that would have allowed U-Haul to remain on the property for a year, Ferguson said. When U-Haul declined the offer, the county went ahead with its court action, he said.
"The county spends hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring new businesses to this community," Ferguson said. "In this case, they're trying to put 10 people out of work and evict a good citizen."
Had the county taken ownership Thursday, it had a private security firm lined up to staff the U-Haul office once sheriff's deputies had evicted the rental agency's employees. But that wouldn't have happened until early next week, said Curtis Massey, assistant county attorney.
Neither Massey nor Ferguson would discuss any specifics of the county's offer on the property. In a previous court filing, the county said $1.35 million is a fair price for the 2.3-acre plot.
The county's $3.75 million purchase price for the funeral home was far higher than its $1.52 million appraised value.
For years, county officials have kept an eye on the two properties, which eventually will be home to a new county courthouse and parking garage to replace the current Main Street judicial building. But the land grabs have been a bit messy. Scarborough & Hargett was founded in 1871 to serve blacks and still has deep roots in Durham's African-American community. Before agreeing to a purchase price, the county had started eminent domain proceedings on the Scarborough & Hargett property as well, a move that rankled some residents who didn't like the county taking property from a longtime business owner.
The courthouse project is still in its infancy and won't be built for several years.
