Portland hearing on Ambassador (37 Casco St.) assessment focuses on NOI, cap rates and rent-control effects

The Portland Board of Assessment Review heard an appeal over the tax assessment for the Ambassador, a 92‑unit apartment building at 37 Casco Street, where applicant Ambassador LLC asked the board to substantially reduce the 2024 valuation.

At the hearing the applicant argued the assessor’s income‑approach valuation understates the building’s operating costs and applies a capitalization rate (“cap rate”) that is too low for Portland’s rent‑controlled multifamily market. The assessor’s representative urged the board to uphold the assessment, saying the assessor’s figures are supported by market data and stressing the legal presumption in favor of the assessor’s valuation.

The applicant presented three witnesses, including David Gershwar, identified in the record as chief strategy officer at Port Property Management. Gershwar said his firm’s discounted‑cash‑flow underwriting for the Ambassador—reflecting the building’s small studio units, utilities‑included leases and older mechanicals including a steam heating system—implied a much higher cap rate than the assessor used. Gershwar said that applying his assumptions produced a valuation “in the low millions” (he described roughly $3.2 million under a roughly 14% implied cap rate) and argued the assessor’s 2024 cap‑rate input (described in the record as about…