COPYRIGHT 2006 Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Byline: Max B. Baker
Jun. 3--FORT WORTH -- State District Court Judge Don Cosby this week
lifted several century-old deed restrictions on land near the
bustling Cultural District, among them one that banned any of the
current property owners from selling alcohol. Acme Brick, JaGee
Properties and several other landowners along West Seventh Street and
University Drive sued the heirs of the stockholders of K.M. Van Zandt
Land Co., which was started by one of city's pioneer families. The
landowners argued that efforts to revitalize the stretch were being
held back by antiquated deed covenants. Cosby signed a final order
lifting the deed restrictions Tuesday, clearing the way for Acme
Brick, which owns 12 acres along West Seventh Street, and JaGee
properties, which plans a 10-acre mixed-use urban village in the
Cultural District, to either redevelop or sell their properties with
a clear title. "In talking to folks who are interested in buying our
property on West Seventh Street, we wanted to make sure the title is
clean," said Dennis Knautz, Acme Brick's chief operating officer. The
company has its headquarters on the site but plans to move to
southwest Fort Worth. Kimco Montgomery Plaza, the Dallas-based group
redeveloping the former Montgomery Ward property, reached an out-of-
court settlement with the more than 100 heirs in April, agreeing to
pay $222,000 to remove the deed covenants. The Montgomery Ward
building includes tenants that wanted to sell alcohol. Deed
restrictions dictate how property can be used. They are often
transferred with the land when it is sold. Although such covenants
are routinely overturned, they remain in force unless the new buyer
goes to the trouble, and the expense, removing them. For example, one
of the deed restrictions in this case dictated that if there was a
violation, the land reverted back to the original owners. But in
arguing that the deed restrictions should be tossed out, Acme and
others argued that the original owners, and their legal
representatives, no longer exist. The Van Zandt land company was
dissolved in 1947. They noted that from 1945 to 1991 at least 17
separate judgments had been issued by local courts invalidating the
restrictions on other Van Zandt deeds. Nick Acuff, the attorney
appointed by the court to represent any of the Van Zandt land
company's unknown heirs, said that he will appeal Cosby's ruling but
that several of his clients are talking about settling with Acme,
JaGee and the other landowners involved in the lawsuit: the MPA
Foundation, Garview Partners, Nona Inc., Spokane Ventures, Whitehead
Equities and Will Ed Wadley. ------------ Max B. Baker, (817) 390-
7714 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Copyright (c) 2006, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas
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