US 98 Through Fort Walton Beach: What FDOT Pays for Frontage on the Emerald Coast

If you own or lease commercial frontage on US 98 in Fort Walton Beach or Mary Esther, the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has already estimated how much land it expects to need downtown and has programmed right-of-way money for the segment in Mary Esther. The taking on this stretch of the Emerald Coast is ahead of owners, not behind them, which means there is still time to prepare. This article explains where each segment stands and how Florida law measures what FDOT must pay when it takes frontage.

Is the US 98 Land Taking in Fort Walton Beach Still Ahead?

Yes. As of FDOT’s adopted fiscal year 2027 through 2031 work program, acquisition on the downtown Fort Walton Beach segment has not been funded, and the segment west toward Hurlburt Field is funded for right-of-way purchase in fiscal years 2027 and 2028. Neither segment’s acquisition phase is complete.

The Brooks Bridge replacement is a separate project that FDOT lists as under construction. This article does not cover it. If you have an open claim on that project, talk with eminent domain counsel about where your case stands.

What Does FDOT’s Study Say About Downtown Properties?

FDOT’s preferred alternative from its “Around the Mound” study reroutes and widens US 98 from Beal Parkway to the west end of Brooks Bridge, and north along Eglin Parkway to Hollywood Boulevard. FDOT’s own project page states that “Right of way is required resulting in business relocations.”

The environmental review closed with a Finding of No Significant Impact approved June 8, 2026. The approval selects the at-grade Alternative 1A over the grade-separated Alternative 1B. The public hearing materials posted on the FDOT project page estimate:

• 13.3 acres of right-of-way potentially needed
• 79 parcels potentially impacted
• 74 potential business relocations and no residential relocations
• $241.8 million in preliminary right-of-way cost, against $50.7 million for construction

Those figures are preliminary and subject to change. Still, a right-of-way estimate nearly five times the construction estimate tells you where the value on this project sits: in the land, buildings, and businesses along the corridor.

FDOT’s July 2024 conceptual stage relocation plan, which projected 74 business relocations under either alternative, identifies retail, office, restaurant, and hotel uses among the affected businesses, including owner-operators, tenants, and landlords. It also concludes that relocation resources “may be inadequate for the business relocations at this time.”

What About US 98 West Toward Hurlburt Field?

The segment from Church Street to east of Cody Avenue in Mary Esther is the one with money attached. FDOT’s work program programs roughly $9.2 million for right-of-way purchase across fiscal years 2027 and 2028 to widen US 98 from four to six lanes. That right-of-way money is new in the fiscal year 2027 through 2031 program; the prior program carried design funding only.

FDOT’s program notes for the segment also flag numerous temporary construction easements, which are compensable interests even when the permanent strip is small. The segments farther west, toward the Santa Rosa County line, are funded for design only.

Jimerson Birr represents Florida property and business owners in condemnation matters brought by FDOT and other state agencies, counties, and municipalities. If your property fronts either segment, contact our team before FDOT’s first letter arrives, not after.

What Does FDOT Pay When It Takes US 98 Frontage?

Florida’s Constitution requires full compensation, and section 73.071 sets out what a jury decides. In a partial taking, the award covers the value of the land and improvements taken plus damages to the property you keep that the taking causes.

That can include:

• The land, buildings, and site improvements in the taken area
• Installed fixtures and on-site signs that go with the property, plus billboard interests where the owner leases space for outdoor advertising
• Severance damages when the taking itself costs the remainder frontage, parking, or a workable site layout

Two rules in section 73.071 cut in different directions. Subsection (4) lets FDOT offset any increase in the remainder’s value from the road project against damages to the remainder, but never against the value of the land taken. Subsection (5) excludes any increase or decrease in the value of the property acquired that results solely from market knowledge of the project, so the corridor’s announced future neither inflates nor depresses that value.

Valuation disputes often come down to the appraisal. Our discussion of common deficiencies in eminent domain appraisals covers what to look for.

Is a Lost Driveway or New Median Compensable?

It depends on what causes the loss. In a partial taking, damage to the remainder is compensable only when the taking itself causes it, and a change in traffic flow is not a compensable loss. In Division of Administration v. Capital Plaza, the Florida Supreme Court held that “Severance damages are not available for a change in traffic flow” where a median was built within existing right-of-way.

FDOT’s project page says access management changes are required downtown. Separating a compensable access loss from a noncompensable traffic change is exactly the analysis in our SR 72 frontage and access article.

Can a US 98 Business Recover Business Damages?

Sometimes. Business damages under section 73.071 are available only when:

1. The taking is partial, for a right-of-way, by a public body such as FDOT
2. The business is established and has more than five years’ standing
3. The business is owned by the party whose land is taken and is located on adjoining land that party owns or holds, which can include a leasehold
4. The taking may damage or destroy the business
5. The owner sets out the nature and extent of the business damages in its written defenses

The recovery is limited to the probable damages that losing the use of the taken property may reasonably cause the business.

Business damages are not available when FDOT takes the entire property, meaning no adjoining land remains for the business to operate on. Under section 73.015, the business owner must also submit a written business damage offer within 180 days after receiving FDOT’s business owner notice, unless the parties agree to a later date, and a court must strike a late claim absent a good faith justification.

What If Your Business Has to Move?

Relocation assistance is a separate, administrative track handled by FDOT, not the jury. Owners and tenants can qualify. Our Kings Highway relocation article explains why relocation payments and the condemnation award are separate claims on separate clocks.

What Should US 98 Owners Do Before FDOT Calls?

Start building your file now. Documenting your property before the project changes it gives your appraiser and lawyer a record of conditions before the taking.

1. Gather five years of business records, since a business damage offer must be substantiated with them.
2. Photograph and measure your frontage, driveways, signs, and parking.
3. Pull your leases and identify who owns buildings, signs, and improvements.
4. Do not sign anything from a right-of-way agent without review.
5. Use your statutory time. Section 73.015 gives you at least 30 days after you receive FDOT’s notice to respond to its written offer before FDOT can file suit, and FDOT must provide its appraisal within 15 business days after you ask.

Chapter 73 requires the condemning authority to pay reasonable costs and attorney’s fees under a statutory formula, and the fee depends on the result achieved. Section 73.015(4) also provides for fees and costs when a claim settles before suit, subject to its conditions. Under section 73.092, fees are generally measured from FDOT’s last written offer before you hire a lawyer, or its first written offer after, if none came before.

If FDOT later files suit, it may use Florida’s quick-take process to seek an order of taking before trial. For how FDOT plans takings years in advance, see our Alternate US 19 article.

How Jimerson Birr Approaches US 98 Corridor Takings

Jimerson Birr handles eminent domain matters for Florida property and business owners, from the first FDOT letter through trial. We research corridor projects at the work program item level and publish what we find, so owners can see how a project is funded and scheduled before the first meeting.

Our Northwest Florida coverage includes I-10 in Escambia County and US 231 in Panama City. Commercial owners can also review our real estate development and construction practice and our work on eminent domain condemnation issues.

If you own or lease property on either US 98 segment, schedule a consultation with Jimerson Birr and bring your deed, leases, and any FDOT correspondence.