A Monroe Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday that the Bloomington Redevelopment Commission cannot kick two tenants out of the Showers Building before their leases end.
Judge Kara Kothe determined in two separate cases that the RDC used the wrong process to pursue eminent domain and that the commission lacks the authority to even do so.
“In Indiana, redevelopment commissions, including the RDC here, expressly do not have the power of eminent domain,” she wrote. “Thus, the RDC cannot ‘inversely’ take real estate that it could not take in a direct condemnation.”
Krothe’s ruling ends cases filed by the Bloomington Board of Realtors and Warrant Technologies against the commission last August.
Both have rented office space in the former furniture factory since 2021, two years before the RDC bought it from CFC Properties. The commission sent them each a letter on June 4, 2025, informing them they would have to leave by December.
The RDC argued that an “inverse condemnation” occurred when it bought the building, meaning the terms of the leases would end after it took possession. Krothe rejected that argument, saying the commission misunderstood the concept. An inverse condemnation is a claim brought by property owners against the government for taking without just compensation.
There are legal reasons why the city is no longer interested in renting to the tenants.
The commission purchased Showers West with bond money reserved for public safety improvements, paid for with an income tax increase. Bloomington's previous mayor John Hamilton intended to move the police and fire department headquarters into the building, which is connected to city hall. After pushback from the police union and funding shorfall, current mayor Kerry Thomson directed the RDC to put the property to a different public purpose.
Rental space doesn't meet the mark, said Bloomington Corporation Counsel Margie Rice. In an email, she said the city legal department is reviewing the order.
The RDC will discuss options and next steps during an executive session on Monday.
