Our expertise · Engineering-Based Cost Segregation

Specialty Asset Classes Cost Segregation

When the property does not fit a template, the evidence has to do the work.

Some properties refuse to fit a standard allocation template: a manufacturing plant whose infrastructure is half building and half process, a winery whose production areas double as structure, a gaming property, an equestrian center, a golf or amusement facility. Green Summit evaluates atypical assets by their function, construction and evidence, with particular attention to the systems that combine structural and operational roles — complexity is a reason for more careful evidence, never an excuse for an unsupported percentage. 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. Our engineering-based studies reconstruct property-specific costs and separate land, improvements, equipment and building-serving assets so your tax advisor can rely on the result.

Founders' cost segregation experience since 2001
Licensed engineers and in-house CPAs
Founded 2014
Engineered substantiation, not estimates

Who this is for

Owners, investors and operators of complex properties outside the standard asset categories, the manufacturers and technology companies that own specialized facilities, and the accounting firms that advise them.

Accounting & Advisory Firms Building Owners, Investors & Operators Manufacturers & Technology Companies

What we do

Assess the actual asset. We review manufacturing infrastructure, winery production areas, recreational systems, equestrian facilities and gaming-property 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

Screen the property. We review the property, the tax-owner context and the records available before we define the study, starting with interviews about how the operation actually works.
Review the components. We examine installed components, functional use and cost evidence, and we investigate what each mixed system serves before developing any allocation.
Deliver and support. We deliver the engineering study and walk your tax advisor through the basis for each classification and each allocation.

What you receive

An engineering-based report with asset schedules and a cost reconciliation for the property in the study. The supporting analysis addresses the actual operating functions, the specialized installations and the property-specific cost reconstruction behind them, 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 land, improvements, equipment and building-serving assets separated on evidence.
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 specialty study.

As a consulting partner that combines a licensed engineering firm with in-house tax professionals, we are comfortable with properties that have never been studied before, and we build every study to be audit-ready from day one.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cost segregation study for a specialty property?

An engineering-based analysis that separates the cost of a complex 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 27.5- or 39-year life. For atypical assets such as manufacturing plants, wineries, amusement facilities, equestrian centers, golf facilities and gaming properties, the work rests on operational interviews, construction and process-system review and property-specific cost reconstruction rather than a template. Your tax advisor determines how the result is used.

Which specialty properties can be considered?

Examples include manufacturing plants, wineries, amusement facilities, equestrian centers, golf facilities and gaming properties. We screen each engagement for the actual asset and the evidence available before we define a study.

How are mixed operational and building systems handled?

We investigate what the system serves and develop a documented allocation only where the evidence justifies it. Complexity is a reason for more careful evidence, not an excuse for an unsupported percentage.

Can unusual property photographs prove the classification?

Photographs are useful evidence of installed conditions, and we use them. But classification also needs functional analysis, ownership, cost records and the relevant tax treatment. A photograph alone is not the study.

What information should we provide?

Time for operational interviews, access for construction and process-system review, records for cost reconstruction, and the information needed to separate land, improvements, equipment and building-serving assets. 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 the property that does not fit the template.

Tell us what the property is and where it is, what it does day to day, 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