Green Summit

Our expertise · Engineering-Based Cost Segregation

Hospitality Cost Segregation

From the guest floors to the pool deck, a study that reflects how a hotel is built, owned and operated.

A hotel is several businesses under one roof: lodging, food service, meeting space, amenities and the back-of-house infrastructure that keeps them all running. Much of that property was installed to a brand standard, some of it was purchased by the operator rather than the owner, and furnishings are often recorded separately from the building — so a cost segregation study has to reflect the ownership and franchise arrangements as carefully as the installed assets. With 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored under federal legislation enacted in July 2025, the timing of those classifications matters more than it has in years. Green Summit develops engineering-based cost segregation studies for hotels and other hospitality properties, tracing every classification to the property and its records so your tax advisor can use the result and defend it.

Who this is for

Owners, investors and operators of hotels and other hospitality properties, whether acquired, newly built or recently refreshed, and the accounting firms that advise them.

Building Owners, Investors & OperatorsAccounting & Advisory Firms

What we do

  • Assess the actual asset. We review guest-room assets, restaurant and kitchen build-outs, meeting spaces, pools and site improvements, and we keep the list of review candidates separate from any conclusion about their recovery period.
  • Develop supportable costs. We start from the acquisition and construction records you have, add documented estimating methods where the records stop and reconcile the analysis to the relevant basis.
  • Coordinate the investment context. We work with your tax advisor on ownership, utilization, hold period, disposition and state-treatment considerations, so the study fits the position you actually hold.
  • Support your tax team. We explain the technical basis for each classification and answer your advisor's questions, during the engagement and if the IRS asks later.

Our process

  1. Screen the property. We review the hotel, the tax-owner context, including who owns what under the management or franchise arrangement, and the records available before we define the study.
  2. Review the components. We examine installed components, functional use and cost evidence, from guest rooms and kitchens to meeting space and site work.
  3. Deliver and support. We deliver the engineering study and walk your tax advisor through the basis for each classification.

What you receive

An engineering-based report with asset schedules and a cost reconciliation for the property in the study. The supporting analysis addresses guest-room assets, food-service areas, meeting spaces and amenity improvements, and it identifies every assumption and limitation so your tax advisor can determine usability, elections, accounting-method changes and the final return position.

Benefits

  • Property-specific analysis rather than a standard reclassification percentage.
  • A clearer asset and cost record for the owner's advisors, reconciled across owner, operator and building purchases.
  • Potential timing benefits evaluated in the context of your actual tax and investment position. We never present a deduction as a guaranteed cash return.

Why Green Summit

Most tax incentive studies are written by accountants. Ours are written by engineers and reviewed by CPAs. Green Summit's founders bring individual cost segregation experience dating to 2001 and 2007, respectively — professional experience that predates the firm's founding in 2014 — and that background shapes how we connect construction knowledge, engineering analysis, cost development and a reconciled record on every hospitality study.

As a consulting partner that combines a licensed engineering firm with in-house tax professionals, we build every study to be audit-ready from day one, and we stay available to your advisor if questions come later.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cost segregation study for a hotel?

An engineering-based analysis that separates the cost of a hospitality property into its components and assigns each to the depreciation class the tax rules allow, so qualifying items recover over 5, 7 or 15 years rather than the building's 39-year life. On a hotel that means guest-room assets, kitchen and restaurant build-outs, meeting space, pools and site improvements, each reviewed for its actual function and construction. We reconcile the study to the ownership and franchise records, and your tax advisor determines how the result is used.

Can furnishings be counted again in the building study?

No. A study must never create duplicate basis. We reconcile separately recorded furnishings and equipment with the building and acquisition records before we develop a single classification, so an asset already on the books is not claimed a second time.

Can renovation or franchise refresh work be reviewed?

Yes. Improvement dates, retired assets, invoices and the scope of the refresh help define both the cost segregation questions and the potential disposition questions for your tax advisor, and they are easier to answer while the records are fresh.

Do brand standards determine tax classification?

No. Brand or franchise requirements explain why an asset was installed; they do not decide how it is treated. The asset's actual function, its construction and the tax rules determine its classification.

What information should we provide?

Room and amenity inventories, a reconciliation of owner and operator purchases, renovation-phase records and the property-specific cost development behind them. Purchase or construction costs, prior depreciation records, plans and improvement history help us establish the scope.

Will the study permanently eliminate tax or increase property NOI?

No. Cost segregation generally changes the timing of depreciation deductions, not the total. Tax utilization, basis and disposition effects require your advisor's review, and depreciation itself does not reduce the property's operating expenses or automatically improve operating NOI or lender-defined debt coverage.

Let's talk about what a study could uncover in your hotel.

Tell us the property and where it is, whether it was acquired, built or renovated and roughly when, and whether a brand refresh is planned or recently complete.

Related solutions

Program and technical references

IRS: Cost Segregation Audit Technique Guide

Program information reviewed September 22, 2026. Current applicability, qualifications and program terms are confirmed for each engagement.

Or call 321-273-2200 · inquiry@greensummit.com

Please do not include tax returns, household income records, payroll or other sensitive documents in this initial inquiry.