Estate of James Barudin, Muriel B. Clarke v. Commissioner

1996 T.C. Memo. 395
CourtUnited States Tax Court
DecidedAugust 26, 1996
Docket7156-94
StatusUnpublished

This text of 1996 T.C. Memo. 395 (Estate of James Barudin, Muriel B. Clarke v. Commissioner) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering United States Tax Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

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Estate of James Barudin, Muriel B. Clarke v. Commissioner, 1996 T.C. Memo. 395 (tax 1996).

Opinion

T.C. Memo. 1996-395

UNITED STATES TAX COURT

ESTATE OF JAMES BARUDIN, DECEASED, MURIEL B. CLARKE, EXECUTRIX, Petitioner v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent

Docket No. 7156-94. Filed August 26, 1996.

Jeffrey M. Novick, Richard S. Kestenbaum, and Bernard S.

Mark, for petitioner.

Dante D. Lucas and Pamela L. Cohen, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM FINDINGS OF FACT AND OPINION

SWIFT, Judge: Respondent determined a deficiency of

$163,751 in the Federal estate tax of the Estate of James Barudin

(decedent). - 2 -

Unless otherwise indicated, all section references are to

the Internal Revenue Code as of December 31, 1989, the date of

decedent's death.

After settlement of some issues, the only issue for decision

is the proper date-of-death value of decedent's ownership unit in

a partnership that owned real property in New York City.

FINDINGS OF FACT

Some of the facts have been stipulated and are so found.

At the time the petition was filed, petitioner's legal

residence was in New York, New York.

The 225 Fourth Co. Partnership

In 1954, a group of investors including decedent organized a

general partnership under the laws of the State of New York by

the name of The 225 Fourth Co. Partnership (the FC Partnership)

for the purpose of purchasing two commercial office buildings and

land located at 225 and 233 Park Avenue South, Manhattan,

New York (the Partnership Properties).

The Partnership Properties occupy the entire block on the

east side of Park Avenue South between East 18th Street and East

19th Street. The Partnership Properties are located in a

neighborhood of Manhattan referred to as Midtown South.

Generally, office space that is located in Midtown South and that

is available for lease is regarded as secondary, as opposed to

primary, office space. - 3 -

The only significant assets of the FC Partnership consist

of the Partnership Properties.

As of 1981, investors owned a total of 48 general

partnership units (ownership units) in the FC Partnership.

Decedent owned one ownership unit in the FC Partnership.

Under the terms of the partnership agreement, ownership

units could not be sold or transferred without consent of a

majority of the partners. In order to sell or mortgage the

Partnership Properties, consent of two-thirds of the partners was

required.

Loans or mortgages obtained on the Partnership Properties

were to be nonrecourse as to the general partners. The general

partners, however, could be required to contribute to the FC

Partnership additional capital for any purpose approved by a

majority of the partners.

Since organization of the FC Partnership in 1954 until the

date of trial, the FC Partnership and the Partnership Properties

have been managed by Orda Management Corp. (Orda Management).

Orda Management was responsible for making improvements to and

repairs on the Partnership Properties, for negotiating leases of

the Partnership Properties, for hiring brokers, attorneys, and

accountants, for obtaining casualty and liability insurance on

the properties, and for managing the general business affairs of

the FC Partnership. - 4 -

From approximately 1979 until the date of trial, Morton

Silver (Mr. Silver) has owned and functioned as president of Orda

Management. Apparently, from its organization in 1954,

Mr. Silver also has owned ownership units in the FC Partnership.

From at least 1954 through 1981, space in the Partnership

Properties was generally leased out for light manufacturing and

industrial purposes.

By 1981, the two buildings located on the Partnership

Properties were old and in poor condition, and they did not

command lease rates as high as other typical secondary office

space in Midtown South. In 1981, the FC Partnership realized net

income of approximately $300,000 from rental of the Partnership

Properties.

In 1981, the City University of New York (CUNY) agreed to

lease four floors of the Partnership Properties consisting of

approximately 88,000 square feet for office and classroom space.

CUNY's lease, for a term of 10 years, was to begin in the summer

of 1982 and was due to expire in the spring of 1992. As part of

the lease agreement with CUNY, the FC Partnership agreed to

renovate the lobbies of the two buildings and the four floors to

be leased by CUNY and recouped portions of these capital

expenditures through the annual lease charges to CUNY.

In January of 1982, a capital contribution of $4,895,833 was

made to the FC Partnership by Silver-Park Co. (Silver Park), a

New York limited partnership of which Mr. Silver was the general - 5 -

partner. This $4,895,833 capital contribution was made to fund

necessary repairs and renovations to upgrade the Partnership

As a result of Silver Park's $4,895,833 capital contribution

in 1982, Silver Park became a general partner in the FC

Partnership, and the FC Partnership's ownership structure was

changed in 1982 to consist of 95 ownership units, of which the

original general partners owned 48 units, or 50.53 percent, and

Silver Park owned 47 units, or 49.47 percent.

As a result of the change in ownership of the FC

Partnership, decedent's one-forty-eighth interest in the FC

partnership was converted to a one-ninety-fifth interest.

As sole general partner of Silver Park, Mr. Silver was able

to vote on FC Partnership matters on behalf of 47 of the 95

ownership units. As of 1986, Mr. Silver controlled an additional

seven ownership units, giving him control of 54 of the total 95

ownership units. By controlling a majority of the ownership

units in the FC Partnership, Mr. Silver alone had authority to

determine to whom partners could transfer ownership units, and he

could make most decisions affecting management and operation of

the FC Partnership.

By 1984, the FC Partnership had executed two additional lease

agreements with CUNY. The leases with CUNY involved approximately

40 percent of the total office space available in the Partnership

Properties. - 6 -

The leases with CUNY were due to expire in 1992, 1993, and

1994. CUNY, however, could terminate the leases in 1990 provided

CUNY gave 12 months' advance notice. Further, if, for any year,

CUNY's budget was not approved, CUNY's leases with the FC

Partnership would automatically terminate on the last day of

CUNY's current fiscal year.

In addition to CUNY, other tenants of office space in the

Partnership Properties included Manufacturers Hanover Trust Co.,

Crown Books Corp., American Skandia Life Assurance Corp., STV

Seellye Stevenson Value & Knecht, and Guardian Life Insurance Co.

of America. During 1988, of the 555,015 square feet in the

Partnership Properties, 535,635 square feet (or 97 percent) were

leased.

From 1982 through 1988, lease income from the Partnership

Properties increased each year.

In 1989, total lease income of $16,058,359 was received from

the Partnership Properties. Of this amount, $2,091,410

represented payments the tenants as a whole were charged with

respect to capital expenditures the partnership had made on

renovating the Partnership Properties.

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