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No, they cannot simply take the property, and they never could simply take the property. Even the Constitution says that the gov't must pay the fair value when they take.

For further interest, possibly academic interest only, see Bentham, concept of Utilitarianism, which is commonly studied in Ethical Theory as it applies to the greatest good to the greatest number for the longest time. Utilitarianism was intended as a principle of operation for gov't, principle meaning literally first take.

Take was a poor choice of words. The Saha's had no intention of selling and would have preferred to keep their land. They managed to lose only 5 acres. Now, can the local government purchase all 48 acres and the Saha's would be forced to sell?

Thank you for the additional reference. I will look into it all.

Just compensation doesn't matter. Gov't lowballs because it knows it can; once the gov't wants it, no one else is going to bother, so you can't get "market value."

Case in point:

"The UKMD (hail, comrade!) wants to create something they call a "community center" and offered to buy a two-story building for $1.9 million. It's owned by the American Automobile Association, and located on the Southwest Freeway near the Greenway Plaza; prime commercial real estate. Then the Girl Scouts, headquartered in the building next door -- even sharing the same parking lot -- found out it was for sale. It doesn't get any better than that. Either pay a lot of money to rebuild theur current structure, or they buy out their longtime neighbor. So they outbid the UKMD (hail, comrade!) , offering $2.2 million. (The property is assessed by the HCAD at $1.8m). The District decided that fine, they could meet that offer. This is great--capitalism at work! Someone's got a commodity, folks who are bidding have got the money. Lets do this!

Only one side didn't want to play fair in a bidding war. Suddenly, the AAA broke off the negotiations with the GSA. Why? They got a letter from the UKMD (hail, comrade!) stating that if it had to do so, it would use eminent domain to take the building. The AAA, cowed into avoiding what would be a costly legal battle if they tried to defy the District, folded."

Emphasis added.

Full story
Almost a 25% difference between the assessed value and the last offer before the unelected "reinvestment zone" board cheated.