Rob Nahigian FRICS Appointed to Massachusetts Highway Real Estate Appraisal Review Board

10/08/2009 23:56

NEW YORK – October 8, 2009 – Rob Nahigian FRICS has been appointed by Massachusetts Gov. Devel Patrick to serve on the Mass. Highway Real Estate Appraisal Review Board for a three-year term. The board reviews valuations on eminent domain cases and engages Rob’s full 37 years of real estate experience. “We’re a five-person panel that offers recommendations on final valuations on eminent domain cases more than $300,000,” he explained. “This could be any type of property: residential or commercial.” When a property is affected by a highway project, it is first reviewed by an independent appraiser, then an in-house appraiser assigned to the project. The findings are then presented to the Review Board. “These projects can impact a lot of people, they can affect people’s lives,” Rob said. “In the month of June it was two meetings per week because of a major highway expansion going on here in Massachusetts.” The board was created to oversee the Massachusetts highway department – but the board is independent and doesn’t simply rubber stamp each valuation. “We are appointed by the Governor and charged to protect the public interest,” Rob said. “That matches up well with the goal of RICS, to look out for the common good.” The board’s job is to make certain someone isn’t being overpaid or underpaid as a result of eminent domain taking of a property. And there’s a lot of nuance to the job. “Sometimes when you take a property by eminent domain it isn’t always a permanent taking. It can be temporary taking instead. It could be a five year temporary taking. But that still affects businesses and livelihoods.” Rob has 37 years of real estate experience with 28 years exclusively in commercial real estate. His specialty is problem projects for commercial owners, legal firms, investment and real estate firms, financial institutions, government entities and non-profit and educational institutions. On many projects, he is asked to evaluate highest and best use analysis, real estate disputes, investment or development pro formas and conduct site search evaluations. He has served on numerous local chapter, regional and national officer leadership positions for SIOR, CRE, LAI, MAR, NAIOP and CBA. Rob served as the 2005-06 MAR State Chairman for the Commercial-Investment Council. He is National VC, Training & Development for SIOR and a Senior Instructor for SIOR, Boston University, CBRE National Training and MAR. He has also lectured at Harvard, MIT, Lehigh, DePaul, Rutgers and Northeastern Universities. About RICS & RICS Americas RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors), with headquarters in London, is the leading organization of its kind in the world for more than 100,000 professionals in property, land, construction and related environmental issues. RICS Americas, based in New York and covering North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, has more than 3,000 members in commercial and residential development, construction and project management, brokerage, planning and finance, valuation and fine arts appraisal. For further information visit www.ricsamericas.org or e-mail ricsamericas@rics.org.