GC Net Lease @ (3) (Westerville) Investors, L.L.C. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision (Slip Opinion)
GC Net Lease @ (3) (Westerville) Investors, L.L.C. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision (Slip Opinion)
Opinion
*121 {¶ 1} At issue in this real-property tax case is the tax-year-2014 value of a single-tenant office building occupied by J.P. Morgan Chase under a net lease. Under R.C. 5713.03, the fee-simple estate must be valued as if unencumbered. The question presented is whether the Board of Tax Appeals ("BTA") acted reasonably and lawfully by adopting the property's sale price without giving full consideration to the appraisal offered by the property owner.
{¶ 2}
In
Westerville City Schools Bd. of Edn. v. Franklin Cty. Bd. of Revision
, --- Ohio St.3d ----,
I. Background
{¶ 3} On March 31, 2015, appellant, GC Net Lease @ (3) (Westerville) Investors, L.L.C., the property owner, filed a complaint challenging the auditor's *122 value of $35,500,000 and seeking a reduction to a value of $28,000,000 for tax year 2014.
{¶ 4} Appellee Franklin County Board of Revision ("BOR") held a hearing at which GC Net Lease presented the appraisal report and testimony of Samuel D. Koon, a member of the Appraisal Institute. By reconciling his valuations under an income approach and a sales-comparison approach, Koon arrived at an opinion of value of $28,500,000 as of January 1, 2014. At the hearing, appellee Westerville City Schools Board of Education ("BOE") presented the deed, conveyance-fee statement, and purchase agreement relating to a November 2013 sale of the property for $44,500,000. The BOR noted the appraisal but adopted the sale price of $44,500,000 as the property value for 2014 and 2015. 1
{¶ 5}
GC Net Lease appealed, and at the BTA hearing, the property owner again presented Koon's testimony and introduced his appraisal report and the BOE again introduced the conveyance-fee statement and deed for the November 2013 sale. In support of its decision, the BTA cited
Berea
-era caselaw.
See
Berea City School Dist. Bd. of Edn. v. Cuyahoga Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
{¶ 6}
But as the BOE points out, there is a notable difference between the BTA decision on appeal in this case and the BTA decision on appeal in
Westerville City Schools
, --- Ohio St.3d ----,
*123 {¶ 7} GC Net Lease appeals from the BTA's adoption of the $44,500,000 sale price as the tax-year-2014 value of the property.
II. Analysis
{¶ 8}
The issue in the present appeal was also presented in
Westerville City Schools
, --- Ohio St.3d ----,
{¶ 9}
The BOE contends that, unlike its decision in
Westerville City Schools
, the BTA's decision in this case complied with
Terraza 8
by considering the appraisal evidence. We disagree. The BTA's finding that the "lease was at, or below, market rents,"
{¶ 10} More importantly, the difference between actual rent and market rent is only one factor that might make an existing lease affect the sale price. To be sure, the amount a building tenant pays in rent generally affects what a potential purchaser would pay to own the building. But the amount of rent charged under a lease has to be considered in the context of at least two other factors: the creditworthiness of the tenant and whether the lease at issue is a net lease, under which the tenant defrays the expenses relating to the real estate. Here, the appraisal indicates that the November 2013 purchase price of $44,500,000 relates to a property occupied by J.P. Morgan Chase, as tenant under a 15-year net lease, paying rent that is at or below a market rate. The convergence of these circumstances could affect the price a buyer would pay for the property, possibly elevating it above what the same buyer would pay for the unencumbered fee-simple estate.
{¶ 11}
Finally, in
Westerville City Schools
, --- Ohio St.3d ----,
III. Conclusion
{¶ 12}
For the foregoing reasons, we vacate the decision of the BTA and remand the cause for further proceedings. On remand, the BTA must consider the
*1173
appraisal evidence alongside the sale price as evidence of the property's value and give due consideration to whether the sale price reflects the value of the unencumbered fee-simple estate. The BTA must decide the cause on the existing
*124
record,
Bronx Park S. III Lancaster, L.L.C. v. Fairfield Cty. Bd. of Revision
,
Decision vacated and cause remanded.
O'Connor, C.J., and O'Donnell, French, Fischer, DeWine, and DeGenaro, JJ., concur.
Kennedy, J., concurs in judgment only.
In its decision, the BTA vacated the BOR's determination of value for 2015, given that that determination was issued on March 9, 2016, before the period for filing a complaint against the valuation for 2015 had expired. BTA No. 2016-540,
Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.