The Parcel as a Whole: A Presumptive Structural Approach for Determining When the Government Has Gone Too Far*

"The DENOMINATOR is the number which shows into how many parts a thing has been divided .... The NUMERATOR is the number which shows how many parts, expressed by the denominator, are taken."1

I. INTRODUCTION

In 1968, the owners of the Grand Central Terminal in New York City submitted a proposal to build a high-rise over their existing property.2 The City of New York, under a historic preservation regulation, refused to let the property owners continue with construction because of fears that the plan would destroy the historic architecture of the building. As a result, the building owners brought an inverse condemnation suit.3 In determining how to analyze the significance of …