Green Summit

Our expertise · Engineering-Based Cost Segregation

Multifamily Cost Segregation

Repetition is not documentation. A study that covers every unit type, amenity and acre of site work.

An apartment community repeats itself: the same kitchen, the same bath, the same finishes across hundreds of units, and it is tempting to inspect one and assume the rest. But a representative approach has to reflect the actual unit types, construction phases and variations in the property, and the amenity spaces, leasing areas and site improvements each carry their own questions. With 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored under federal legislation enacted in July 2025, the timing advantage of a well-supported multifamily study is larger than it has been in years. Green Summit develops engineering-based cost segregation studies for multifamily properties, documenting the actual construction and function of the components rather than assuming every unit and building is identical.

Who this is for

Developers delivering new communities, owners and investors acquiring or renovating existing ones, and the accounting firms that advise them.

Accounting & Advisory FirmsBuilding Owners, Investors & OperatorsReal Estate Developers

What we do

  • Assess the actual asset. We review unit interiors, amenity spaces, leasing areas 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, including the tax owner, eligible basis and housing-finance structure where the property is affordable housing.
  • 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 community, the tax-owner context and the records available before we define the study, including which unit types, phases and buildings the evidence must cover.
  2. Review the components. We examine installed components, functional use and cost evidence, and we define the access and evidence requirements rather than assume every unit and building is identical.
  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 unit types, amenities, building components and site 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, with nondepreciable land kept distinct from the improvements built on it.
  • 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 multifamily study.

As a consulting partner that combines a licensed engineering firm with in-house tax professionals, we understand how apartment communities are built and phased, and we build every study to be audit-ready from day one.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cost segregation study for a multifamily property?

An engineering-based analysis that separates the cost of an apartment community 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 27.5-year life. The work covers unit interiors, amenity spaces, leasing areas and site improvements, and it documents the actual construction and function of each component rather than relying on the fact that the units repeat. Your tax advisor determines how the result is used.

Can one sample apartment support the entire property?

Not on its own. A representative approach must reflect the actual unit types, construction phases and variations across the property. We define the access and evidence requirements for the community rather than assume every unit and building is identical.

How do amenity and site costs enter the review?

We evaluate the installed assets, what they do and the cost support behind them. An amenity label alone does not determine a recovery period, and nondepreciable land must stay distinct from the improvements built on it.

What about affordable-housing ownership?

The tax owner, eligible basis and housing-finance structure require coordination with your advisors. A property's affordability designation does not automatically establish whether a study is useful or how it will be treated, so we work through the structure before we define the scope.

What information should we provide?

Unit-type and common-area inventories, a reconciliation of building and site costs, and the acquisition, rehabilitation and ownership records the study must coordinate with. 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 across your community.

Tell us the community and where it is, how many units and buildings it has, whether it was acquired, built or renovated, and roughly when.

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.