The Dallas developer who bought Fairfield Lake State Park declined the state’s final offer for the land on Tuesday.
Now Texas Parks & Wildlife Department (TPWD) must decide whether to move forward on its claim of eminent domain over the property, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Real estate company Todd Interests is currently building a luxury gated community on the 5,000-acre tract. It bought the land, located about 80 miles southeast of Dallas in Freestone County, from energy company Vistra in June. It was listed for $110.5 million at the time, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The state sent a final offer to Todd Interests on August 3, TPWD spokesman Cory Chandler told the DMN. The company had 14 days to consider the offer.
CEO Shawn Todd told the DMN in an email that the state’s offer was “below what we paid for and have already put into the property and hundreds of millions below fair market value.” He claimed the water rights alone are worth $238 million.
Todd said the state has been trying to artificially lower the property’s value, claiming TPWD hired a law firm to allege Fairfield Lake fish may have been contaminated by toxic materials from a former coal-fired power plant.
“TPWD has a chance to finally listen to the commissioners of Freestone County and the elected politicians of the state of Texas who have said no to eminent domain,” he told the DMN. “They can stop this proceeding now.”
As reported by The Dallas Express, Freestone County commissioners, who previously supported saving the park, wrote in June that TPWD using eminent domain to acquire the property was an “abuse of power and government overreach.”
If the Office of the Attorney General files a petition on behalf of TPWD to move forward with a condemnation process, three Freestone County property owners will be chosen to serve on a special commission to decide the fair market value. Todd and the state may object to their recommendation, forcing a civil trial, according to the DMN.
