Financial- Vandermay Law Firm (Previous Tenant)

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Dan Berrey April 4, 1997 Page 2 a statement of eligibility, the following outlines the bases for our conclusion that VanderMay & Doyle does in fact meet the governing requirements. With respect to moving and related expenses, the U.S. Department of Transportation regulations which govern the availability of benefits to persons displaced by the Courthouse Square project provide as follows: "Any business or farm operation which qualifies as a displaced person (defined at sec. 24.2(g)) is entitled to payment for such actual moving and related expenses, as the Agency determines to be reasonable and necessary ....~~ 49 C.F.R. sec. 24.303. Thus, the availability of benefits to businesses located on the site of the planned Courthouse Square project depends upon whether such businesses fall within the definition of "displaced person" set forth in the regulations. Under 49 C.F.R. sec. 24.2 (g) (1) (i) , displaced persons are defined as those who move from the real property or move their personal property from the real property "[a]s a direct result of a written notice of intent to acquire, the initiation of negotiations for, or the acquisition of, such property in whole or in part for a project.'~ As you may know, during the past several years VanderMay & Doyle was exploring various options with respect to where to maintain their offices upon the expiration of their five year lease of the 547 Court Street premises. The firm considered several alternatives, including extending the lease of the 547 Court Street property, purchasing a building alone or with other lawyers, and constructing an office building alone or with other lawyers. As the firm considered its options, Mr. VanderMay discussed the possibility of a continuation of the lease of the 547 Court Street property with Ms. Goldberg, the building's former owner. Mr. VanderMay and Ms. Goldberg discussed a number of different.lease options with respect to coritinuing the lease. By the summer of 1996, however, due to both rumors in the community and the press coverage afforded to Marion County's efforts to construct a bus facility on the site, both VanderMay & Doyle and I had become concerned that a continuation of the lease with Ms. Goldberg might not be feasible in light of the County's efforts to locate a bus facility on the site. In part due to this uncertainty regarding whether any continued leasehold would eventually be condemned or otherwise acquired for the bus facility, VanderMay & Doyle engaged in discussions during the summer of 1996 concerning a possible tenancy in a new office building proposed for the site of the former Casa Real restaurant on 12th Street in Salem. For a variety of reasons, these discussions were protracted and Mr. VanderMay did not sign a letter of intent with respect to a tenancy in the new building