Our expertise · Engineering-Based Cost Segregation

Senior & Assisted Living Cost Segregation

Residential, hospitality and healthcare under one roof, classified by how each space is actually used.

A senior living community can be three property types at once: residential apartments, hospitality-grade dining and common areas, and care-support spaces with the security and life-safety features of a healthcare setting. Property classification and recovery periods have to reflect the actual use, services and ownership of each — not a single assumption applied to every facility, and not one building classification assumed for the whole community. With 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored under federal legislation enacted in July 2025, those distinctions carry more weight than they have in years. Green Summit develops engineering-based cost segregation studies for senior and assisted-living communities, separating uses, systems, costs and construction phases so the analysis reflects the campus you actually operate.

Founders' cost segregation experience since 2001
Licensed engineers and in-house CPAs
Founded 2014
Audit-ready documentation

Who this is for

Owners, investors and operators of senior and assisted-living communities, from a single facility to a campus with several care types, and the accounting firms that advise them.

Building Owners, Investors & Operators Accounting & Advisory Firms

What we do

Assess the actual asset. We review resident spaces, dining facilities, care-support areas, security features 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 building classification and recovery period your advisor determines for the property.
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

Screen the property. We review the community, the tax-owner context and the records available before we define the study, including the care levels and operations on the campus.
Review the components. We examine installed components, functional use and cost evidence, distinguishing building systems from specialty systems in each care setting.
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 resident areas, care-support functions, shared amenities 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 residential, hospitality and care functions distinguished rather than blended.
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 senior living study.

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

Frequently asked questions

What is a cost segregation study for a senior living community?

An engineering-based analysis that separates the cost of the 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 longer recovery period. In senior housing the work means separating residential, hospitality and healthcare functions, from resident spaces and dining to care-support areas, security features and site improvements, and reflecting the actual use, services and ownership of each. Your tax advisor determines the building classification and how the result is used.

Are all senior facilities depreciated as 39-year buildings?

No, and no blanket assumption should be made. The building classification and recovery period that apply depend on the property's facts and the tax rules, and your advisor evaluates them. Our analysis gives that evaluation the property-specific facts it needs.

Do life-safety requirements automatically create short-life assets?

No. Safety or regulatory requirements explain the context but do not themselves establish tax classification. The installed function and the relevant rules still control, and we evaluate each feature on that basis.

Can a campus with several care types be reviewed?

Yes. We separate the relevant uses, systems, costs and construction phases so the analysis reflects the actual campus rather than one undifferentiated asset category.

What information should we provide?

A care-level and operational review, inventories of resident and common-area assets, a separation of building systems from specialty systems, and a reconciliation of the tax owner and basis. 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 on your campus.

Tell us the community and where it is, which care types it offers, whether it was acquired, built or renovated, and roughly when.

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