Amtrak names Goldman Sachs and Bank of America in bid to condemn D.C. land

The wording matters: may claim. The filing does not accuse any of these institutions of wrongdoing. They are named because their names may still sit on paper tied to this ground, and Amtrak says it wants that paper cleared before it builds. 

The land is owned by Parcel 49B Limited Partnership, which the filing describes as a dissolved D.C. limited partnership whose general and limited partners are, in the filing’s words, “dissolved, terminated, forfeited, and/or cancelled.” With the owner effectively gone, Amtrak says it had no ordinary way to negotiate a purchase – one reason it turned to condemnation. 

Amtrak says it needs the parcel to build a new two-track passenger rail bridge linking Virginia and the District, along with improvements to existing track next to the parcel. The filing links the work to a 2021 funding agreement with the Virginia Passenger Rail Association, aimed at moving toward near-hourly service between Washington and Richmond. The land sits beside an existing rail corridor, according to the filing, and is needed to ease a bottleneck at the southern end of the Northeast Corridor. 

The dollars are modest for a project of this scale. Amtrak says a certified general appraiser valued the parcel at $20,000. The railroad says it offered that same amount to buy the land, that the owner’s representatives countered with, in the filing’s words, “a significantly higher amount,” and that it has deposited $20,000 with the court as its estimate of just compensation. 

The remaining defendants – Confederation Life Insurance Company, Tower Associates II, Inc., and two substitute trustees named only in that capacity – are listed as parties that may claim an interest in the land. None is accused of any wrongdoing.