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settled on the same discount employed by DeVoe (40 percent) and
thereby concluded that decedent’s one-half interest in the Busch
property at the time of his death had a $680,000 value.
($2,270,000 x .50 (half interest) x .40 (discount) =
$680,000(rounded down)).
Steven Geller (Geller), respondent’s expert, was hired to
analyze the agreement between the Busch property owners and
Ponderosa and determine the per-acre value based on that
agreement. After reaching a value based on the agreement, he
discounted that value to reflect the time value of the delay that
was expected to be encountered in the closing process. Geller’s
approach was further limited to one of two fixed scenarios: One
approach was to assume a closing of the entire property during
June 1997 and the other was to assume two separate closings, one-
half of the property during June 1997 and the other one-half
during June 2000. Geller reached the conclusion that 360 units
would be paid for at the closing(s) based on the Pleasanton
Planning Commission’s January 1997 approval of 360 units, a fact
that was not known as of June 1994 or February 1993.
Using the $150,000-per-acre contract price, with an
additional $50,000 times 110 units over 250 (360 - 250 = 110),
Geller arrived at gross values of $19,271,000 and $22,225,895 for
the single and dual closing models, respectively. Using a 9-
percent discount rate to account for the passage of time until
the closings, Geller concluded that the present value of the
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