NEWARK-The Supreme Court recently came out with a ruling onIron Mountain Information Management Inc. v. The City ofNewark, which impacts whether or not commercial tenants areentitled to notice of a proposed blight designation under theprovisions of New Jerseys’ Local Redevelopment Housing law. Theissue before the New Jersey Supreme Court was whether a long-termcommercial tenant, with a limited right of first refusal, isentitled to the same notice as the property owner when the propertyis subject to a potential blight designation.

On May 19, 2010, the Supreme Court held that the legislatureintended to limit the right to actual notice of blight designationto owners of record and those whose names are listed on the taxassessor's records, and Iron Mountain was not deprived of any dueprocess protections afforded by the New Jersey or US Constitution.This raises some interesting points for commercial tenants in thestate, says John S. Stolz, partner of Lowenstein Sandler’s realestate practice group.

But first, some background. In 2004, the Newark MunicipalCouncil adopted a resolution authorizing the Planning Board toinvestigate whether a group of properties, including the buildingin which Iron Mountain is a tenant, qualified as blighted, Stolzrelates. “Following the publication of a notice of hearing andservice of the notice on the building owner, the Planning Boardheld a public hearing and concluded that the property met theapplicable criteria for a blight designation,” he tellsGlobeSt.com. “A resolution was adopted designating the blightedarea and directing that a redevelopment plan be drafted. ThePlanning Board held another public hearing to consider theredevelopment plan and adopted resolutions approving thedevelopment plan and appointing the housing authority to serve asthe redevelopment agency.”