Section 4.2.4

4.2.4. Refinements of Market Value Standard. The Fifth Amendment requirement of just compensation “derives as much content from the basic equitable principles of fairness as it does from technical concepts of property law.”265 With this in mind, the Supreme Court has honed the basic foundation of market value “with certain refinements developed over the years in the interest of effectuating the constitutional guarantee” of just compensation.266 Valuations for federal acquisitions must comply with these refinements, which reflect the Supreme Court’s recognition that “strict adherence to the criterion of market value may involve . . . elements which, though they affect such value, must in fairness be eliminated.”267 These refinements reflect the practical applications of the principles of fairness underlying the Fifth Amendment.268 They include the analysis of highest and best use (Section 4.3) and determination of the larger parcel (Section 4.3.3); acceptable approaches to value (Section 4.4); the treatment of government project influence on market value (Section 4.5); partial acquisitions and the before and after valuation method (Section 4.6.1), compensable damages (4.6.2), offsetting benefits (4.6.3), and easement valuation issues (4.6.5); and the market rental value standard for leasehold and other temporary acquisitions (Section 4.7). These refinements can lead to particularly complex valuation problems in acquisitions involving natural resources (Section 4.8), inverse takings (Section 4.9), and land exchanges (Section 4.10).