More than three dozen owners of marquee commercial properties are suing Broward County Property Appraiser Marty Kiar, alleging his office improperly calculated market and assessed values, saddling them with inflated tax bills.
The lawsuits, filed between November and this month in Broward County Circuit Court, involve some of the county’s best-known hotels, office towers and retail complexes.
The properties are in Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale Beach, Hollywood, Pompano Beach and other major Broward cities.
The cases challenge how Kiar’s office valued high-profile commercial real estate assets across sectors, from hospitality and gaming to Class A office and regional retail.
The property owners allege the appraiser’s methodologies overstate real market value, which in turn drove up their property taxes.
Many of the complaints were filed during a narrow legal window tied to the certification of the tax roll, after challenges to the county’s value adjustment board. The timing of the litigation reflects the certification deadline rather than an unusual spike in controversy, said Mila Schwartzreich, general counsel for the Broward property appraiser.
Property owners have 60 days from the date the value adjustment board certifies the tax rolls to file lawsuits. They are prohibited from doing so once the 60-day deadline expires, Schwartzreich said.
Each county certifies its tax roll on a different schedule, so litigation waves often track those calendars rather than broader market shifts, she said.
Broward processes significantly more parcels than some entire states, but relatively few assessments end up in court compared to other Florida counties, including Miami-Dade, she said.
Most of the plaintiffs are represented by Samuel Brandan Lynch, a shareholder with the Orlando-based law firm Lowndes. He told The Real Deal he is not authorized to comment on the cases.
Among the owners suing Kiar’s office are Trinity Investments, led by Sean Hehir, and Credit Suisse, which own the Diplomat Beach Resort Hollywood. The property appraiser determined the oceanfront, 1,000-room hotel at 3555 Ocean Drive in Hollywood had a market and assessed value of $589.9 million in 2024, court records show. The owners paid roughly $12.3 million in property taxes.
In 2023, Trinity and Credit Suisse paid roughly $850 million for the resort and two adjacent parcels that the partnership subsequently sold to Aventura-based BH Group and Coconut Grove-based Related Group.
Other notable plaintiffs include:
- An affiliate of New York-based Brookfield, led by Bruce Fiatt, which owns the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, a 595-room hotel at 181 Southeast 17th Street. Kiar’s office determined the property had a market value of $140.3 million and an assessed value of $139.9 million in 2024. The owner paid $2.6 million in property taxes. In 2018, Brookfield paid $170.6 million for the hotel.
- An affiliate of Russell Galbut’s Miami-based GFO Investments, Fort Lauderdale-based InSite Group, Atlas Hill Real Estate and Prime Finance. The joint venture owns Galleria Fort Lauderdale, an indoor mall at 2414 East Sunrise Boulevard that Kiar’s office determined had a market value $74.4 million and an assessed value $74.3 million in 2024. The partnership paid $101,215 in property taxes. The joint venture acquired the mall for $73 million in September.
- An affiliate of The Stronach Group, led by Belinda Stronach, which owns Gulfstream Park at 901 South Federal Highway in Hallandale Beach. The property appraiser determined the gambling, retail and entertainment site has a market value of $87.4 million and an assessed value of $85.7 million in 2024. Stronach’s affiliate paid $1.3 million in property taxes.
- An affiliate of Fort Lauderdale-based Stiles Corporation, led by Kenneth Stiles. The development firm owns the AutoNation office building at 200 Southwest First Avenue in Fort Lauderdale. Kiar’s office determined the property had a market value of $78.6 million and an assessed value of $72.8 million in 2024. The Stiles affiliate paid $1.4 million in property taxes.