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experts. In considering Mansbach's opinion with respect to the
theater component of the Redwood City Fox, we find several
problems that seem to account for much of the difference between
Mansbach's value conclusions and the value conclusions of
petitioners' experts.
First, Mansbach considered the appropriate unit of
comparison among his comparable sales to be the price paid per
seat. For the Redwood City Fox, he determined that the
"appropriate seat count to apply in the valuation" was 602.
Mansbach acknowledged that the seating capacity of the Redwood
City Fox at one time exceeded 1,300, and further acknowledged
that 756 seats were installed in the auditorium on the valuation
date. However, due to a "lack of documented demand for the
mezzanine seats", Mansbach concluded that a buyer "would not
allocate value to these seats in making its price decisions."
Thus, he concluded that "the market would not place a value on
the subject property based on the theoretical maximum seating."
We disagree with this conclusion. Jacobs' experts,
Mitten/Reynolds, found that price paid per seat was not an
appropriate unit of comparison because the number of seats in a
theater is not fixed. Crocker's expert, Carneghi, felt that a
purchaser would consider the maximum seating capacity a theater
has to offer in making his or her decision. Carneghi determined
that the appropriate number of seats for the Redwood City Fox,
based on modern standards, was 1,130 seats. However, Carneghi
concluded that the value indicated on a per square foot of
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