Dallas developer rejects state offer to buy Fairfield Lake State Park
Dallas-based developer Shawn Todd has rejected the state’s voluntary offer to purchase the former Fairfield Lake State Park land, the developer announced Tuesday.
In a statement issued by a communications firm working for Todd Interests, Todd blasted the offer as unfairly low and urged the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to reconsider its plans to acquire the property.
Todd purchased the former Fairfield Lake State Park and the surrounding 3,000 acres in June. The state had been leasing the land from former owner Vistra Corp. for nearly 50 years, but Vistra terminated the state’s lease in anticipation of the sale. Todd Interests made clear from the beginning that it would not keep the park open after its purchase, as the developer intends instead to transform the property into an exclusive gated community.
The Parks and Wildlife Department tried and failed to work out a solution that would keep the park open. In early June, with other options exhausted, the Parks and Wildlife Commission voted unanimously to allow the Parks and Wildlife staffers to seize the land through eminent domain.
As a precursor to formal land condemnation, the Parks and Wildlife Department issued two voluntary purchase offers to Todd Interests. In Todd’s Tuesday announcement, he said he had rejected that second and final offer.
With the final voluntary offer rejected, Texas Parks and Wildlife now has to decide if it will move forward with the formal portion of eminent domain proceedings. In order to do that, the next step would be to have the state Attorney General’s office file to condemn the property.
Department spokesperson Cory Chandler said in a Tuesday afternoon statement that the state has not yet filed a petition for condemnation.
The department “remains hopeful the landowner will agree to a voluntary sale prior to TPWD initiating court proceedings,” the statement said. “However, TPWD is following all legally required steps to initiate condemnation.”
Todd’s statement did not say exactly how much the state offered for the land, but did say that the state’s offer was accompanied by an appraisal of $85 million. While Todd has also not disclosed the exact amount he paid for the property a couple months ago, he has said it was in excess of $100 million.
In his statement, Todd indicated he believes that the property is worth much more than the state offered. Echoing previous statements he’s made to reporters, Todd listed the “on-going real estate development,” “damages” and more than $200 million worth of water rights. In all, Todd said, the state’s offer was “hundreds of millions below fair market value.”
Under eminent domain law, the seizing agency — in this case, Texas Parks and Wildlife — is required to pay fair market value for the land it is seizing.
However, when the Star-Telegram previously asked experts about these claims, they said that the state is only required to pay fair market value for the existing property. Eminent domain law does not require the state to pay for potential value or for damages, experts said, although Todd might be able to make an argument to be reimbursed for any improvements to the property
Todd’s firm has been spending money on the property. The developer has moved forward with construction and demolition at the property, in defiance of a request from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commissioners. Todd said in a recent radio appearance that his firm has been spending $1 million a month on the property.
Todd’s statement on Tuesday also alleged that Texas Parks and Wildlife was attempting to lower the property’s value by alleging contamination of the fish in the lake, which used to be a cooling reservoir for a power plant. In its statement, the department batted away that claim by saying that it has not alleged any contamination “other than instances already documented by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.”
If Parks and Wildlife does move forward with a condemnation filing on the Fairfield property, that would trigger the formation of a local three-person commission to determine how much the property is worth. If either the state or the developer objects to that valuation, the case would then move into the civil court system. But, regardless of any civil court proceedings, Texas law would allow the Parks and Wildlife Department to take possession of the property once it pays the valuation determined by the three-person commission.
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 1:11 PM.
