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Department of Transportation v. Presidio Performing Arts Foundation, 11/3/16

A performing arts foundation offered sufficient evidence at trial that it suffered a loss of goodwill under Code Civ. Proc., § 1263.510, when the California Department of Transportation took its location by eminent domain. The evidence showed that the foundation ended up with a less desirable location, a diminished reputation, operational disruptions, patronage and revenues declined after the taking, and that the shortfall in expected cash flow after the taking could not be attributed to tangible assets or any factor other than a decline in goodwill. For purposes of the threshold determination of entitlement to compensation, a party need not quantify the loss by calculating its pre-taking goodwill value (by subtracting the value of its tangible assets from its total business value), and then subtracting from that amount its post-taking goodwill value. The lower court’s ruling was reversed.