By Parker Leavitt } The Republic
The owner of a Scottsdale tennis club is demanding $100 million in damages over the city’s plan to forcibly purchase his property in an eminent domain battle that moved to the courtroom Tuesday.
Robert Hing, who has owned property near Indian Bend and Hayden roads in Scottsdale for 45 years, refuses to sell a 1.5-acre chunk of vacant land to the city for construction of a fire station.
Hing instead planned to sell the vacant lot and an adjacent 5-acre tennis club property to Phoenix-based IPA, a developer that intended to build a 148-unit senior-living complex. Hing said he entered into a formal contract in March to sell the properties for $10 million.
That deal fell apart June 21, when the Scottsdale City Council voted to invoke eminent domain to acquire the site. IPA withdrew its purchase offer the following day, saying the senior complex would not be viable without the vacant lot, according to Hing.
