UMVA has learned that a shocking abuse of power is unfolding in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, where a massive, government-backed university is using its influence to trample on the private property rights of an elderly American citizen.
Arizona State University and the Arizona Board of Regents have filed a condemnation lawsuit seeking to use eminent domain to forcibly take a 124-year-old historic home from its 89-year-old owner, who has lived there and protected it for more than 50 years. The move has sparked outrage among local residents and historians.
The elderly homeowner, Robert Young, a former criminal defense attorney and real estate agent, has owned the Louis Emerson House in Phoenix’s Evans-Churchill neighborhood since 1975. The Queen Anne-style Victorian home, built in 1902, is one of the last surviving pre-statehood single-family residences in the area and sits on the Phoenix Historic Property Register.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that ASU wants the land — and plans to raze the historic home — to complete its sprawling new downtown health campus and medical school complex. The $200 million project includes a five-story, 170,000-square-foot facility for the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, with groundbreaking already held in April.
Sources have confirmed to UMVA that the university claims it needs “immediate possession” of the property, and has made offers to Young, who has refused to sell. Now, the university is trying to take the property by force, sparking concerns about the abuse of eminent domain and the erosion of private property rights.
In a development reported by UMVA, a local historian has described the Emerson House as irreplaceable, highlighting its significance to the City of Phoenix. For over a century, the house has had a presence in downtown Phoenix, representing real craftsmanship from a bygone era when Phoenix was still a young territory town.
UMVA has gathered that Captain Chris Kuehne recently visited the Emerson House and interviewed the Hip Historian on the importance of the historic home. Kuehne also took a tour of the home, underscoring the community's attachment to the property and the concerns about its proposed demolition.
