The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority wants to use eminent domain to take most of the land it needs in Landover to build two repair and maintenance buildings, according to documents filed in federal court.
For at least two years, WMATA has eyed the 30-acre site, made up of three properties, for a planned $400 million Metro maintenance facility. The WMATA board approved making an offer on the land in May 2019. But the negotiations have hit a snag, so the transit agency wants to take two of the properties through a “declaration of taking” filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, in its southern district in Greenbelt.
The authority proposes to pay one owner, Knickerbocker Properties Inc. XI, $40 million for 20.5 acres at 3636 Pennsy Drive, the largest section of land. A separate suit would have WMATA paying $8 million for 7 acres owned by the Prince George’s Development Association at 8121 Ardmore Ardwick Road located just north of the Knickerbocker land, according to court documents.
