The Centre City Development Corp., the city's redevelopment arm, had originally offered each of the Horton heirs $100 for their ownership interests in the land. When they balked at the price, the city exercised its eminent domain powers and seized the property.

The Gaslamp District is the San Diego equivalent of New York's Times Square. It's loaded with always-busy restaurants and bars and is anchored by the wildly successful Horton Plaza shopping center.

The lawsuit brought by Alonzo Horton's heirs involves about three acres in the Gaslamp District's western fringe. Most of the parcels are on Market and Front streets, surrounding two high-rise condominium projects that are now under construction.

Lawyers for city argued that the parcels aren't worth much because they are portions of paved streets and unbuildable lots. But the attorney for Horton's heirs countered that Horton himself allowed the city to use the land for streets to serve the city's common good when he subdivided in the 1870s. When the use of the land changed, he told the jury, it should have gone back to Horton's family at fair-market value for developable lots.