The federal government has taken ownership of the new federal courthouse site on Vine Street in Chattanooga.
In a press release, the General Services Administration — which oversees most federal buildings across the country — said it had filed a declaration of taking on Friday.
Under the law, the government immediately gains control of the 3.29-acre property once it files the declaration and deposits with the court an amount to pay the landowner. In the case of the courthouse site, the amount is $4.95 million.
The federal courts would move there from the Joel W. Solomon Federal Building in downtown Chattanooga on Georgia Avenue, which has been there since the 1930s and has been deemed inadequate for modern operations. Congress has appropriated nearly $240 million for the replacement project.