The state Supreme Court said Tuesday that the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation must pay a private company the profits from operating a parking garage at T.F. Green Airport, starting from the day the agency took control of the garage by eminent domain in 2004.

The court had previously ruled that the EDC’s taking of the garage from its owner, The Parking Company, was “inappropriate” and outside the agency’s constitutional boundaries.

The Parking Company is a private company led by managing partner James Skeffington.

In this week’s order, the high court directed the Superior Court to issue a judgment in favor of The Parking Company, awarding it all lost profits, plus interest.

The profits alone were estimated to be $4.13 million, and the interest is “in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Deming E. Sherman, an attorney who represents The Parking Company.

At issue is a complicated case in which the EDC, a quasi-public agency, condemned a temporary easement of Garage B at the airport in July 2004. It is the oldest of three garages at the airport, and has 750 parking spaces.

The action by the agency allowed it to assume control of the parking garage by eminent domain. The EDC argued that it was trying to serve a public purpose by reallocating many of the spaces in Garage B for general airport parking. Under private management, many spaces were reserved for valet parking. They were often left empty, unavailable to other travelers, the EDC said.

The Parking Company challenged the takeover in Superior Court, and the case eventually reached the Supreme Court. In February, the high court ruled in The Parking Company’s favor, saying that the takeover was “inappropriate,” and was “motivated by a desire for increased revenue and was not undertaken for a legitimate public purpose.” The court ordered the Rhode Island Airport Corporation, an EDC subsidiary, to give control of Garage B back to the company.

The garage was transferred back to The Parking Company in March, and the case appeared to be headed toward resolution. But in July, Superior Court Judge Allen P. Rubine rejected The Parking Company’s claim that the airport corporation and the EDC had essentially trespassed on the company’s property between July 2004 and March 2006. In his ruling, the judge denied The Parking Company’s demand that it was entitled to the profits during those 18 months.

The Parking Company appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, which resulted in the high court’s order this week.

The Supreme Court justices called Rubine’s decision “inconsistent with our mandate.”

“We cannot overlook that a final judgment was entered that was not in compliance with the mandate of this court.

“There was nothing prospective about this mandate,” the justices continued. “EDC acted outside its constitutional boundaries from the start.” The Parking Company is entitled to the garage’s profits as of the date of the eminent domain takeover, the order said.

Garage B was originally built in 1987 by Downing Corp.

The Parking Company is the latest owner and operator of the garage, under a 20-year agreement with the airport corporation, which already owns and operates Garages A and C at Green.

The agreement calls for The Parking Company to provide valet and overflow parking in Garage B. And it calls for the airport corporation to take ownership of Garage B in November of next year, when all private interests in it are set to expire.

The dispute arose after a downturn in air travel following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The airport corporation and The Parking Company were forced to compete for fewer customers. The company steeply discounted its prices to lure customers.

At the same time, the EDC tried, unsuccessfully, to negotiate away the valet-parking provision in the contract. Only after those discussions failed did the EDC take over Garage B with the powers of eminent domain, according to court documents.