Richard P. DeAngelis Jr.

Richard P. DeAngelis Jr. is an experienced real estate practitioner, well-known and respected in the areas of redevelopment, eminent domain, and property tax appeals.

Rich has successfully opposed efforts by municipalities to blight properties under the New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law. He was lead counsel in the precedent-setting decision Harrison Redevelopment Agency v. DeRose, 398 N.J. Super. 361 (App. Div. 2008) that imposed more stringent notice requirements on municipalities pursuing redevelopment efforts to preserve the rights of property owners in the affected area.

In eminent domain proceedings to take private property, Rich has challenged such actions to stop the taking or ensured maximum compensation to the property owner. He has also negotiated lucrative relocation agreements for commercial property owners and tenants displaced by government takings.

Rich represents commercial property owners in real estate tax appeals and has achieved considerable tax savings for his clients. He also defends property owners in “reverse tax appeals” by municipalities that seek to increase assessments and taxes. In addition, he counsels prospective purchasers of commercial properties regarding issues related to local taxation, redevelopment law and tax abatements.

Rich has lectured for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, New Jersey Redevelopment Authority and Morris County Bar Association on the Local Redevelopment and Housing Law and property tax appeals.

Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

Rich's experience includes:

Redevelopment
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

• Successfully appealed the dismissal by the trial court of a challenge to the designation of his client’s property as an area in need of redevelopment that was filed eight years after the statutory deadline. Under the precedent-setting decision in Harrison Redevelopment Authority v. DeRose, 398 N.J. Super 361 (App. Div. 2008) the Appellate Division of the New Jersey Superior Court held that a property owner is entitled to full and complete notice at the time of the designation, otherwise the owner’s right to challenge the designation is preserved until such time as the municipality seeks to acquire the property by eminent domain. 

• In Stations, Inc. v. Township of East Hanover, Rich challenged the designation of his client’s property as an area in need of redevelopment. The Law Division of the Superior Court agreed that the property did not meet the statutory criteria required for the designation and reversed and vacated the municipal action, thereby protecting the property from being taken by eminent domain. 

• Filed a lawsuit in Superior Court challenging the designation of his clients’ properties as an area in need of redevelopment in downtown Emerson. After more than one year of litigation, negotiated the sale of both properties “as-is” to the developer for more than $2.3 million above the initial offer without any conditions precedent and a firm closing date. 

• Filed a lawsuit in Superior Court challenging the designation of his client’s retail property as an area in need of redevelopment in downtown Bayonne. The City agreed to remove the property from the redevelopment area so that his client could continue to operate a 90-year old family business at that location.  

• Opposed before the Bayonne Planning Board the inclusion of his client’s property, a bar and restaurant, in a redevelopment area. Negotiated with City officials the removal of that property from a redevelopment study area. 

• Rich has represented numerous property owners before local land use boards and municipal governing bodies in opposing the investigation of whether their properties qualify as an area in need of redevelopment. Such efforts have resulted in the abandonment of the investigation or the removal of his client’s property from the study area.  

Condemnation /Relocation
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

• For a commercial tenant in a downtown redevelopment area threatened with condemnation, negotiated a $400,000 deal for the surrender of the lease and relocation assistance. 

• Stopped the Paterson Parking Authority from taking a commercial property where his client had operated a 100-year-old family business. 

• Negotiated $160,300 in relocation assistance for a property owner to compensate for the interruption of business operations as a result of a taking by the NJ Department of Transportation (DOT). In that same case, the DOT’s offer of just compensation was $220,000 for the partial taking of a 10-foot strip along a state highway; Rich negotiated a settlement of $525,000 on the morning of the scheduled jury trial. 

• Negotiated relocation assistance in the amount of $350,000 to relocate a dental office in a building acquired by a municipality for road improvements. In addition, Rich was able to keep his client in the building for nearly one year after the initial threatened eviction date. 

• In a taking by the NJ DOT, where the offer was $221,000 for a taking of part of a parking lot, Rich received an award of $395,000. 

Tax Appeals
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

• Multi-year tax appeal for three owners of unimproved land in Union County: negotiated a settlement that resulted in a refund of more than $1.5 million for the property owners. The reduction in the final year under appeal carried forward for a total annual tax savings of more than $320,000. 

• Multi-year tax appeal for a property improved with a 40,000 sq. ft. retail building in Hudson County: negotiated a settlement that resulted in a refund of more than $263,000. The reduction in the final year under appeal carried forward for a total annual tax savings of approximately $35,000. 

• Multi-year tax appeal for a property improved with a 10,000 sq. ft. retail building in Hudson County: negotiated a settlement that resulted in a refund of more than $125,000. The reduction in the final year under appeal was 55% that carried forward for an annual tax savings of approximately $42,000. 

• Multi-year tax appeal for a property improved with a 74,000 sq. ft. retail building in Mercer County: negotiated a settlement that resulted in a refund of more than $200,000. The reduction in the final year under appeal for a total annual tax savings of approximately $69,000. 

• On the eve of trial for a multi-year tax appeal involving an unimproved 2.7-acre parcel of land in an industrial area in Passaic County: negotiated a settlement that resulted in more than $80,000 in tax refunds to his client. The agreement included also a negotiated reduction in the assessment for the year following the last year under appeal that reduced the tax liability by 26% and resulted in a total annual tax savings of nearly $18,000 going forward. 

Public Sector Experience
Results may vary depending on your particular facts and legal circumstances.

• Special Counsel for real property tax appeals for the Township of Parsippany in Morris County (2018 – Present). 

• Special Counsel for real property tax appeals for the Township of Randolph in Morris County (2003-2010), and the Borough of Roseland in Essex County (2010-2011). 

• Associate municipal attorney in Phillipsburg (Warren County), Lyndhurst (Bergen County) and Jefferson (Morris County) handing land use, condemnation, licensing, and real property tax appeals. 

• Special Counsel to Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco of New Jersey in 2001, advising on legal issues related to government ethics, employee conduct and communications. Also participated in vetting prospective cabinet nominees.

Professional and Community Affiliations

• New Jersey State Bar Association, Land Use Section
• Morris County Bar Association

• Lecturer and panelist for New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education, New Jersey Redevelopment Authority and Morris County Bar Association

• Member of the Privacy Study Commission (2002-2004). The PSC was a temporary commission created under New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) to study the privacy issues raised by the collection, processing, use and dissemination of information by public agencies.

• Board of Directors, Community Options, Enterprises, Inc. (2015-Present)
• Board of Directors, Parsippany Soccer Club (2008-2017; President, 2014-2015)

Publications

• "Levine family prevails against Paterson Parking Authority in eminent domain case," Paterson Times (March 2020)
• Quoted, "Emerson redeveloper moves to condemn longtime liquor store," NorthJersey.com (January 2020)
• "'Stranded Assets' Bill May Change Playing Field for Local Redevelopment, but Will It Work?" – New Jersey Law Journal (September 2019)
• Quoted, "Paterson Parking Authority spent $72,000 in legal fight for Levine family property," Paterson Times (April 2019)
• Quoted, "Paterson's Levine Industries dodges the wrecking ball," NorthJersey.com (January 2019)
• Quoted, "Redevelopment plan for Bayonne’s former Texaco site nixed," The Jersey Journal (December 2018)
• Quoted, "Bayonne bar still fighting to save itself from development," The Jersey Journal (April 2018)
• Quoted, "How a N.J. firefighter fought for years to save bar from eminent domain seizure," The Jersey Journal (April 2018)

• Quoted, "Emerson council may use eminent domain, Pascack Press (February 2018)

• "Editorial: In Emerson, eminent domain or land grab?" NorthJersey.com (February 2018)
• Quoted, "Emerson property owners: Borough can't use eminent domain to take land," NorthJersey.com (February 2018)

• Quoted, "Strike Two: Emerson Hit With Lawsuit On Eminent Domain," Pascack Valley Daily Voice (March 2017)

• Co-author, "Nonprofit Hospitals and Tax Exemptions in New Jersey” – New Jersey Law Journal (March 2016)
• Co-author, "Severance Damages in Partial Takings Cases:  Lessons Learned and Future Considerations," American Law Institute, Eminent Domain and Land Valuation Litigation (2015)
• "Owner of nearly century-old Bayonne store 'relieved' threat of eminent domain is averted," The Jersey Journal (September 2014)
• Co-author, "New Jersey’s New View on Partial Takings Compensation," Planning & Environmental Law, American Planning Association, Vol. 65, Issue 11 (November 2013)

• "Council Measure Will Pave Way For Dune Project In Mantaloking," CBS News (October 2013)

• Co-author, "Proving Positional Bias," Real Estate Litigation – American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Spring 2011, Vol. 9, No. 2
• Co-author, "The Revival of Due Process Rights in Redevelopment Takings: Recent Developments in Due Process in State Eminent Domain Case Law"– The Urban Lawyer (2010)

New Jersey Super Lawyers (2013-2014, 2017-2021)

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