Appellants and Clay County dispute valuation of Amazon-leased distribution centers in Liberty

Representatives for two large distribution centers leased by Amazon asked a Clay County appeals panel to lower the county’s assessed values, arguing market rent and local sales comparables support a requested value of about $78,000,000 for one property. Appellant representative Michael, an Amazon employee, told the panel the subject warehouse was “recently built in 02/2022, sitting on about 69 acres of land,” and that the company’s calculation, using actual rent of $6.28 per square foot and an 8 percent capitalization rate, produced a requested value of $78,000,000. The county’s representative, Grant Knopf of the Clay County assessor’s office, urged the panel to “completely disregard the equity argument as we don't look at equity” at this stage and said the assessor’s office used broader market data and lower cap rates in their valuation. Knopf cited sales and cap‑rate data showing a range of cap rates and prices per square foot and said…