More than Merely Incidental: Third-Party Beneficiary Rights in Urban Redevelopment Contracts

Abstract:     
Historically speaking, community groups that seek to become involved in city-sponsored redevelopment projects have limited avenues of participation from which to choose. Most avenues of participation are found in administrative law, tort law, or constitutional law and relief is getting harder to obtain. Given the proliferation of privatization and public-private partnerships between local governments and private developers, contract law, the third-party beneficiary rule in particular, offers another realm of rights for urban residents confronted by redevelopment projects. Considering the totality of the circumstances surrounding redevelopment projects, urban residents, an identifiable class for whom public-private partners designate benefits, should be able to obtain relief as third-party beneficiaries to breached redevelopment deal contracts when a redevelopment project fails.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 48

Accepted Paper Series