To build a new federal courthouse downtown, the General Services Administration plans to buy a 50-foot strip of land from Yellowstone County, whether the county agrees to the sale or not.

GSA officials met with Commissioner John Ostlund, county officials and U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull on Wednesday to discuss the strip of land, which runs from behind the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office to the county courthouse. GSA plans to acquire the property through a condemnation action, which could be friendly or unfriendly, said Chief Deputy County Attorney Dan Schwarz.

"We've been told orally that the federal government is going to begin condemnation on the 50 feet," Schwarz said. "Whether it's friendly or unfriendly depends on what they offer us for a price and what our options are."

GSA regional recovery executive Mike Owens said that while the word "condemnation" is being floated about, the legal process of taking the land is just the means by which the government acquires the property, and it doesn't mean that there will be a legal battle in federal court.

"It sounds very harsh, but it's just the vehicle," Owens said. "We're going to do it in a deal setting."

The strip of land is needed to expand the site of a proposed new federal courthouse that the GSA will build using up to $80 million in stimulus funds. The county has long held that it won't sell the strip of land unless it can replace the 40 or so parking spaces it will lose.

GSA didn't present anything in writing at the meeting, and no one has publicly mentioned a price for the land. But it's safe to assume the land wouldn't sell for less than $37.50 a square foot, since that's how much GSA paid for the adjacent land it bought for the courthouse.

However, the $37.50 price was kept low by using some local funding, which made the deal possible for GSA. There probably won't be any price cap with the county's strip of land, so the price could be much higher than $37.50 a square foot.

While a deal can likely be reached without a legal fight, the county's biggest concern is with its parking spaces, Ostlund said.

"They're going to come up with an amount that would replace our parking," he said. "It's a several-sided agreement that's not completely done yet. We agreed to the concept that a friendly condemnation would work if the county can replace its parking."

Owens said GSA is interested in securing a deal soon, since it's close to putting out a design-build contract for the courthouse. The winning company would design as well as build the courthouse.

"We have to come to some kind of agreement with the county really soon because we have to proceed with the building. We have to get going," Owens said.

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