State v. Dawmar Partners, Ltd.

In this condemnation case, the State of Texas challenges both the amount awarded for land taken as part of a highway improvement project and the compensability of severance damages to the remainder. The principal issue is whether the landowners are entitled to severance damages resulting from permanent denial of direct access to the highway if the restrictions on access changed the “highest and best use” of the property from commercial to residential. We hold that the landowners are not entitled to compensation for diminished value of the remainder because they have not suffered a material…