Petition Century Southfield LLC.pdf
Century Southfield LLC Petitioner Vs. City Of Southfield Respondent · 26-000756-TT
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STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS MICHIGAN TAX TRIBUNAL Century Southfield LLC, Petitioner, v. MTT Docket No. 26_________ Parcel ID 76-24-22-426-001 City of Southfield, Respondent. ______________________________________________________________________________ PETITION Century Southfield LLC (“Petitioner”), through its attorney Eva Cantarella at the law firm Hertz Schram PC, petitions this Tribunal as follows: 1. Petitioner is a limited liability company whose business address is 18000 Mack Avenue, Grosse Pointe, MI. 2. The Subject Property comprises of (i) an eleven-story office building at 25800 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, MI, (ii) a three-story office building at 25900 Northwestern Highway, Southfield, MI, and (iii) a three-story covered parking garage–all on the same 9.18 acre parcel identified by parcel number 76-24-22-426-001. 3. The 25800 building was built in 1988 (remodeled in 2015) and holds 260,959 leasable square feet. 4. The 25900 building was built in 1985 (remodeled in 2015) and holds 105,823 leaseable square feet. 5. Thus, the total leaseable office space in the Subject Property is 366,782 square feet. 6. The parking garage was built in 1985 and measures 338,183 square feet. 1
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7. Petitioner is the party in interest, as Petitioner is responsible for paying the property taxes on the Subject Property. 8. Respondent City of Southfield levies and collects the property taxes on the Subject Property. 9. The Subject Property is classified 201 Commercial Improved and was built for its current use as an office building. 10. The Subject Property is located in Oakland County and is in the Southfield Public Schools school district. 11. This Petition concerns issues relating to (a) valuation, (b) assessment, and (c) taxable value. 12. For the 2026 year, Respondent determined the following assessed, state-equalized, and taxable values for the Subject Property: Respondent’s 2026 Value Contentions Assessed Value State-Equalized Value Taxable Value Parcel ID 76-24-22-426- 001 $9,187,020 $9,187,020 $8,894,230 13. Petitioner did not protest Respondent’s value contentions to the City of Southfield Board of Review. 14. Based on Respondent’s contention of Assessed Value, Respondent determined the Subject Property’s true cash value to equal $18,374,040 [double the AV] which equates to $50.10/square foot of leaseable office space [$18,374,040 / 366,782 SF = $50.10 SF]. 15. For the following reasons, Petitioner contends Respondent has over-valued the Subject Property. 2
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16. Comparable sales within a few miles of the Subject Property have sold for less than $15/SF. 17. In fact, on April 22, 2026, Petitioner paid $5,050,000 for the Subject Property, which equates to $13.77 SF. 18. Prior to Petitioner’s purchase, the Subject Property was advertised for sale for approximately 9 months before the seller finally put the Property up for sale at auction. There were only 4 bidders and Petitioner was the high bidder. 19. Further, the Subject Property has experienced high vacancy for years. 20. As of December 2025, the 25800 building was only 35.18% occupied with just 91,816 SF rented [out of 260,959 leaseable square feet]; and the 25900 building was only 5% occupied with just 5,297 SF rented [out of 105,823 leaseable square feet]. 21. Stated otherwise, out of the Subject Property’s total 366,782 leaseable SF, as of December 2025 only 97,113 SF, or 26.48% were rented. 22. Moreover, on or about April 27, 2026, Ponto & Associates PLLC, which occupies 9,808 SF in the 25800 building, gave notice that it will move out by February 2008. The move out will reduce the total space leased in the 25800 building to 82,008, or 31.43%; it will likewise reduce the space leased in the Subject Property as a whole to 87,305 [out of 366,782], or 23.80%. 23. Not surprisingly, the Subject Property experienced a huge negative net operating income in 2025 [over $291,000 negative]. 24. Given the foregoing, Petitioner contends the 2026 true cash value of the Subject Property is $5,000,000 and therefore the 2026 assessed, state-equalized, and taxable values should be as follows: 3
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Petitioner’s 2026 Value Contentions Assessed Value State-Equalized Value Taxable Value Parcel ID 76-24-22-426- 001 $2,500,000 $2,500,000 $2,500,000 25. Petitioner is unaware of any dispute concerning the value of a statutory “addition” or “loss” in determining the Subject Property’s taxable value. 26. Should Petitioner hereafter become aware of any such dispute, Petitioner reserves the right to amend this Petition to reflect the dispute. 27. Petitioner requests that the Tax Tribunal enter an Order (i) reducing the 2026 assessed, state-equalized and taxable values of the Subject Property to the amounts contended by Petitioner, and (ii) requiring Respondent to pay Petitioner any refunds attributable to such reductions, plus allowable interest and costs. Respectfully submitted Hertz Schram PC /s/ Eva T. Cantarella Eva T. Cantarella (P51917) Attorney for Petitioners 1760 S. Telegraph Road Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302-0183 off. (248) 335-5000; fax. (248) 335-3346 ecantarella@hertzschram.com 4