In People ex rel. Dept. of Transportation v. Diversified Properties Co. III (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 429, a developer bought a 17.385-acre parcel in the City of Rancho Cucamonga intending to build a commercial shopping center on the property. While escrow was still open, the developer learned a three-acre portion of the property was designated by the state for potential freeway rights-of-way. The developer closed escrow after being advised by the state that if development was imminent, and there was confirmation from the city that but for the need to protect the state's proposed rights-of-way, development of the property would be approved, the state would be able to purchase the rights-of-way. (Id. at pp. 437-438.) The developer submitted development plans to the city, which, as required by the city, excluded from the otherwise developable area the three-acre proposed for freeway rights-of-way plus an additional one and one-half acres potentially needed for a reconstruction of the freeway interchange. (Id. at p. 438.) Then, in April 1986, the city formally requested the state "exercise its 'protective acquisition' authority" to purchase "the four and one-half acres 'set aside' from the developer's larger parcel," property which otherwise would have been developable. (Id. at p. 439.) After a year, the state had still not initiated condemnation proceedings leaving the four and one-half acres undevelopable. Another year and a half passed before the state finally made an offer to purchase the property, which the developer rejected. (Id. at p. 439.) The developer filed an inverse condemnation action against the state, which it ultimately agreed to dismiss when the state filed its direct condemnation action. The trial court ruled there had been a de facto taking of the developer's property by the state due to the direct interference with its right to develop its property. (Id. at pp. 439-440.)