![\"the](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Louis-Emerson-Home.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Louis Emerson Home in downtown Phoenix.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Louis Emerson Home in downtown Phoenix.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Dante Dallago<\/p>\n
Arizona State University is abandoning its attempt to seize the historic Louis Emerson House<\/a>, a 124-year-old structure that the university previously claimed it needed to raze to make room for its new medical school. Earlier this year, ASU filed an eminent domain lawsuit against the home\u2019s owner, 89-year-old Robert Young.<\/p>\n In a statement, ASU spokesperson Jerry Gonzalez said the university was dropping that suit.<\/p>\n \u201cASU has been working for about 18 months with the owner toward a resolution to satisfy competing interests with regard to the house, which sits next to land being developed for the headquarters of ASU Health,\u201d Gonzalez wrote. \u201cTo honor the homeowner\u2019s desires, the university has agreed to withdraw its court proceedings and allow the house to remain.\u201d<\/p>\n No motion to dismiss the suit has yet been filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, according to attorney James Braselton, who represented the school and the Arizona Board of Regents in the case. Grant Frazier, whose firm represented Young, said the firm is aware of ASU\u2019s statement but will be looking out for a motion for dismissal.<\/p>\n Sign up for our free weekly newsletter for a recap on politics, dining, culture, music and more<\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/p>\n You’re all set.<\/p>\n CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The about-face came as a surprise to Young, who had steeled himself for a fight against the university. He said he received a call at 4 a.m. Friday morning from controversial civil rights activist Jarrett Maupin, who had taken an interest in the case \u2014 \u201cThe guy gets into trouble often,\u201d Young remarked wryly \u2014 and Maupin informed him that ASU President Michael Crow had called him to say ASU would drop the case.<\/p>\n \u201cThey saw the light,\u201d Young told Phoenix New Times. \u201cI applaud that. You don\u2019t typically get a bulldozer turned around and just say, \u2018We think we\u2019ve made a mistake.\u2019 That\u2019s what it amounted to.\u201d<\/p>\n In its filings in the eminent domain case, ASU had insisted it needed the lot of the 833-square-foot home at North Fourth Street and Pierce Street for its brand new medical school headquarters, which is planned for the neighboring lot and set to open in 2028. However, plans submitted to the court showed that the Louis Emerson House lot would be used only for outdoor space<\/a> and not any actual medical school structure.<\/p>\n Young said his attorneys initially suggested he settle the case, which he refused. \u201cI said, \u2018No, I\u2019m not settling,’\u201d he said. \u201cI wanted to go to trial. I would have beat it at trial.\u201d He said razing the house, which was built in 1902 and is a registered historic property in Phoenix, \u201cwould be a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019d already moved the home once, in 1990, to make room for the Arizona Center. He said in court documents that moving it again would cost between $2 million and $3 million. ASU disputed that estimate and ultimately offered Young $990,000, he has said.<\/p>\n It\u2019s unclear what persuaded ASU to change its mind about the house. Young said there had been no recent settlement talks and he was preparing for an evidentiary hearing in the case set for Sept. 4. <\/p>\n