Court: State must pay millions more for Stony Brook land

One of the most contentious eminent domain cases on Long Island took a dramatic turn Wednesday when a court ordered New York State to pay almost $100 million more for property it seized from a St. James company and annexed to Stony Brook University.

The Court of Claims ruled on a Gyrodyne Co. of America lawsuit filed in 2006 after the state seized 245 of its 314 acres on Route 25A adjoining the school. The former defense manufacturer, now a commercial real estate company based in St. James, said the property was worth considerably more and bitterly contested the $26.3 million the state gave the company after taking over the land. In a decision issued late Wednesday afternoon, Judge James J. Lack valued the property at $125 million.

The property is now home to Stony Brook's Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology, a 100,000- square-foot building that includes 40 research laboratories. The center celebrated its first anniversary on Monday.

Gyrodyne had vowed to fight the property seizure and said it expected to be vindicated.

"We are extremely pleased with the court's decision," said Stephen V. Maroney, the company's president and chief executive, in a statement. "Our goal was to seek just compensation for our shareholders."

Stony Brook issued a brief statement Wednesday: "The university has not yet reviewed the court's decision, and upon doing so, will respond appropriately."

A spokesman for State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said, "We will review the decision."

While it isn't certain the state will appeal, Gyrodyne is girding itself for that possibility.

"Gyrodyne cannot predict how the state will react to the court's opinion procedurally, including whether it will file a notice of appeal," the company's statement said. "As a result, the amount of a final award and the timing of payment are unknown at this time."

Nasdaq halted trading in Gyrodyne stock after 3 p.m. Wednesday, citing "pending news." The stock had risen $10.61 to $47, an increase of 29 percent, before the trading halt.

Gyrodyne said in 2005 that it had received at least two $100 million-plus offers from at least two national home builders to acquire the land, also known as Flowerfield.

Some experts on local land values said the land would be worth that much only with the approval to build homes. The land was zoned light industrial.

The property was the most significant asset owned by Gyrodyne, a real estate investment trust that once built pilotless drones. The company had plans to build a golf community.

The court decision indicated that the plaintiffs presented a more convincing argument about the value of the property based on its potential use.

"Each of the claimant's experts were either local to Long Island or had experience on Long Island and had extensive backgrounds in their field," the judge wrote.

On the other hand, he said, "The majority of the experts presented by the defendant were not local. They had no familiarity with the local areas or the processes on the local level in regard to acquiring a change of zone."