Court Opinion

ID: 9657766
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:37:11.56965+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:13:48.176935
License: Public Domain

White, J.,
dissenting.
The previous decisions of this court holding that profits obtained from the operation of a business on the premises are inadmissible in an eminent domain action are justified only when the activity involves a business venture whose success is unrelated to the physical location and condition of the business premises. A successful freight company whose profits are largely derived from cartage agreements negotiated by mail or telephone could not demonstrate a rational relationship *676between profit and value of the real estate.
However, when the gross income largely arises from the physical use of the premises themselves, the amount of the gross rental is admissible. Y Motel, Inc. v. State, 193 Neb. 526, 227 N.W.2d 869 (1975).
I find no meaningful distinction between space rental at a trailer court and room rental at a motel. Obviously, the gross rental value of the trailer lots was admissible and the expert could base his opinion on that gross rental. See Y Motel, supra.
To suggest, as we have in previous cases, that profit is not an item considered by a prospective buyer of real estate is obviously an invented concept. Indeed, it seems logical that a prospective buyer would acquire all information available and give such weight as the information deserved. It is my view that the gross profit of the operation of the trailer court was admissible and that the amount of the profit may be used as the basis for an opinion of value. See 4 Nichols, The Law of Eminent Domain § 12B.09[1] (rev. 3ded. 1990).
I would reverse.
Grant, J., joins in this dissent.