Verdict Reached in Minnesota Supreme Court Case
The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled against a big-box retailer (Lowe's Home Centers, LLC (Plymouth) v. County of Hennepin, Minn. S. Ct., Dkt. No. A19-0428, 01/29/2020.) finding that the Tax Court properly valued the subject property. The Tax Court placed greater weight on the cost approach (75%) than the sales comparison approach. It based its determination on several criteria including the fact that big-box stores rarely change hands among one another and that deed restriction had an adverse impact on the sales prices of comparable properties. Perhaps the most curious takeaway from the Supreme Court’s ruling is that it supported the Tax Court’s determination that a 9-year old building qualified as a relatively new construction which supported the heavy reliance on the cost approach.
