ASU Drops Bid to Seize 124-Year-Old Phoenix Home

A petition garnering nearly 12,000 signatures helped spur opposition to the university’s plan to acquire and demolish the historic home by eminent domain.

Robert Young, 89, stands on the front porch of the Louis Emerson House, a Victorian-era house in downtown Phoenix, and the target of an eminent domain lawsuit by Arizona State University. Photo taken on June 13, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

Arizona State University has withdrawn its lawsuit seeking to acquire a 124-year-old house in downtown Phoenix by eminent domain to make way for a new medical education center.

An ASU spokesman told The Epoch Times in an email on July 18 that the university is no longer pursuing legal action against Louis Emerson House owner Robert Young.

“ASU 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,” the spokesman said.

“To honor the homeowner’s desires, the university has agreed to withdraw its court proceedings and allow the house to remain.”

The Louis Emerson House sits near the 30-acre site at Fourth and Pierce streets, where ASU is developing the Phoenix Bioscience Core, a district intended to promote advanced research and medical breakthroughs.

Built in 1902, the house is listed on the Phoenix Historic Property Register and had faced demolition under the eminent domain action brought by the Arizona Board of Regents.

A hearing had been scheduled for June 19 in Maricopa County Superior Court.

The complaint named Young and longtime tenant Barry Schwartz, 67, as defendants.

The case drew widespread media attention, culminating in a Change.org petition created by Schwartz that garnered nearly 12,000 signatures.

A weathered placque lists the Louis Emerson House on the Arizona Historic Register on June 13, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

According to the petition, “the rare Queen Anne/Eastlake home links downtown Phoenix to its streetcar-era neighborhoods, represents pre-statehood working-family history, and that its loss would erase irreplaceable cultural heritage.”

The petition urged the Arizona Board of Regents and ASU to halt demolition plans and pursue a “preservation-first solution” to protect the property for future generations.

“Phoenix has already lost countless historic homes and landmarks to redevelopment, leaving fewer and fewer physical reminders of the city’s past,” Schwartz said in the petition.

“While we support public health, education, and growth, progress should not come at the expense of our irreplaceable cultural heritage. A university known for innovation and design should be leading the way in adaptive reuse and preservation, not demolition.”

Longtime tenant Barry Schwartz (L) and owner Robert Young sit on the front porch of the historic Louis Emerson House on June 13, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

Young, 89, purchased the house and its small parcel for $17,500 in 1975 and has spent thousands of dollars maintaining it.

He told The Epoch Times in a June 16 interview that the university offered $815,000 for the property as its third and final offer before taking legal action.

However, he said relocating the two-story red-brick house would cost at least $2 million.

Members of the Phoenix Spokespeople, a cycling group, gather on the front porch of the Louis Emerson House in support of the property owner on June 13, 2026. Allan Stein/The Epoch Times

ASU broke ground on the 175,000-square-foot facility in April.

The building will house the John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, combining advanced medicine, engineering, and artificial intelligence.

The School of Technology for Public Health and Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation programs will also be located in the facility.