Copperleaf Commercial Group · CRE Asset Managers · Atlanta, GA
Copperleaf Commercial Group recovered 20 times its annual subscription cost on its first shopping center appeal
An Atlanta regional owner appealed Magnolia Crossing, a 214,000 sq ft grocery-anchored center in Fulton County, with an income-based packet and cut its fair market value from $39.0 million to $31.5 million. The first-year tax savings were $120,000 against a $5,988 annual subscription.
- 20x
- First-year tax savings against the $5,988 annual Consultant Pro subscription
- $120,000
- Annual tax savings on Magnolia Crossing (a $3.0M drop in taxable value at 40 mills)
- 19.2%
- Reduction in fair market value, from $39.0M to $31.5M
- 14
- Centers now on a tracked appeal calendar across three states
The challenge
Copperleaf's CFO had been paying outside consultants a share of savings on a few centers each year and ignoring the rest. The group owns 14 neighborhood and grocery-anchored centers in three states, and the finance team could not tell which ones were over-assessed, because nobody had tested them against income. In Georgia the assessed value is 40% of fair market value, the notice carries a 45-day appeal window from the date printed on it, and the 2025 notice for Magnolia Crossing had raised the fair market value to $39.0 million.
The center had been appraised on a sales trend for retail in its submarket, but two of its in-line tenants had gone dark and the grocery anchor's lease carried scheduled rent below the market rate the county assumed. The CFO wanted to appeal in-house, without commissioning a full appraisal for every center before knowing which ones were worth the effort.
“The platform paid for itself 20x over on our first shopping center appeal.”
The approach
Copperleaf took the Consultant Pro plan at $5,988 a year (up to 30 appeals) and started with Magnolia Crossing. Assessment Audit read the notice and flagged the center. Income Valuation normalized the rent roll and operating statement, applied a market vacancy rate that reflected the two dark spaces, deducted reserves and leasing costs, and capitalized the resulting NOI at the submarket rate to indicate a value of $31.5 million ($147.20 per sq ft, against the county's $182.24).
Sales Comps supported the conclusion with adjusted sales of comparable centers, and Petition Generator assembled the appeal letter and exhibits. The Fulton County Board of Assessors accepted the income-based value before the case reached the Board of Equalization. The $7.5 million reduction in fair market value cut taxable value by $3.0 million, and at a combined millage rate of 40 mills that is $120,000 a year in tax. Deadline Tracker now holds the appeal windows for all 14 centers in Fulton County, Mecklenburg County and Davidson County on one calendar.
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