2011 Annual Report - Virginia Attorney General

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2011 REPORT OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Real Estate and Land Use Section
The Real Estate and Land Use Section (RELU) handles several specialized areas
of legal practice. Real estate questions and transactions affect every state agency to
some degree. RELU handles the majority of these transactions directly, or provides
support and assistance to agency counsel who wish to retain their role as primary
agency contact for the transaction. The Section does not handle Virginia Department
of Transportation (VDOT) right-of-way acquisitions. RELU opened 232 new matters
and closed 338 matters during 2011. At the end of 2011, the Section was handling
267 active cases with a declared value in excess of $1.3 billion.
Significant transactional real estate matters handled for the Commonwealth
include sales, purchases, leases and easements on state lands. RELU provides daily
advice on real estate issues to the Department of General Services (DGS) and handles
the sale and exchange of state surplus property. The Section also handles all leasing
and other real property matters for the Department of Military Affairs, the
Department of Veterans Services and the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
In addition, the Section provides significant real estate support to the various
institutions of higher education, as well as support to state agencies seeking to lease
state property for the placement of communications towers. Real estate litigation
includes boundary line disputes, landlord/tenant litigation, title disputes and federal
condemnation actions, as well as miscellaneous real estate related matters. During
2011, several issues arose involving the rights of the Commonwealth in and to
subaqueous lands. RELU has worked closely with the Environmental Section to
advise state agencies on these issues. RELU is also involved in a title dispute
regarding property in Virginia Beach at the State Military Reservation.
RELU represents the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) on its
real estate matters, including conservation easements. The Section also advises the
Virginia Outdoors Foundation on its open space easements, as well as general legal
matters, and serves as agency counsel for the Department of Historic Resources,
including its historic preservation easement programs and the renovation and
restoration incentive programs administered by the Department.
The Section provides advice to agencies and the Construction Litigation Section
on construction procurement, contract management and dispute resolution issues on
all construction matters other than VDOT projects. This representation encompasses
providing advice on a wide range of issues, including construction bid documents,
appropriate public procurement measures, bid protests, contract interpretation during
construction and negotiation to resolve disputes during performance, and tendering of
a formal complaint and transfer of the case to the Construction Litigation Section.
One RELU attorney has assisted VDOT with the administration and claims resolution
in the I-495 High Occupancy Toll lanes project, the widening of Interstates 66 and 95,
and other high profile VDOT projects in Northern Virginia.
RELU also advises DGS’ Division of Engineering and Buildings (DEB)
regarding policies, procedures and other issues that arise in that Division’s role as
statewide construction manager and building official. Following the dissolution of
the Design Build/Construction Management Review Board, RELU has worked
closely with DEB to revise its policies and procedures to reflect accurately the
changes to the law in these areas and to draft new policies for adoption by the
Secretary of Administration.