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relied on in Estate of Sturgis. Clear-cutting DP would
negatively affect a subsequent land appraisal since the
recreational uses would be significantly diminished. Third, the
historic use of DP was a mixed use of recreation supported by
timber management. Similarly, the comparable properties
identified by the parties appear to have been sold for this use.
We believe that arm’s-length transactions provide a more accurate
basis to value DP, compared to a summation of components as
proposed by respondent.
D. Valuation
1. Comparable Properties
Mr. Hartnett identified sales of five comparable properties.
Unlike Mr. Middleton, he compared those five properties with the
entire DP acreage. Since Mr. Hartnett gave greater weight to two
of these sales, we shall review those in detail.
The first sale was part of a section 1031 exchange in which
Birchwood Holdings transferred 1,766 acres in Colleton County to
Westvaco Corporation (collectively, the Birchwood sale), on
January 29, 1999. Mr. Hartnett alleged that the total sale price
was $3,620,000 because the purchaser transferred 2,344 acres of
land, with roughly $1,370,000 of merchantable timber, and
$2,250,000 of “boot”.
The second sale involved 447.75 acres in Colleton County,
known as the White House Plantation, on May 1, 1997. This tract
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