Ohio Developer’s Conservation Easement Try Rebuffed by Tax Court

A developer was “negligent” in trying to claim a conservation easement for the redevelopment of Cleveland’s oldest skyscraper by claiming it was giving up on a far larger project, the US Tax Court said Tuesday.

The court sustained the IRS in blocking a conservation easement deduction for Corning Place Ohio LLC an affiliate of developer Millenia Cos., which oversaw the conversion of the 11-story Garfield Building into luxury apartments. The developer had sought a $22.6 million conservation easement deduction on the property. The US Tax Court said the developer inflated their appraisal of the building and so sustained both disallowance ...