Greenville Ranch v. Bristol Retail XV CA4/3

FACTS

Bristol rents the land underlying a Santa Ana retail shopping center from plaintiffs Greenville Ranch, LLC and co-owners (the landlord). Their lease required an adjustment of rent in 2021 to account for any change in the land’s fair market value. Calculating the adjustment required three appraisals of the value, followed by averaging the two closest values. The landlord’s and Bristol’s chosen appraisers valued the land at $37.8 million and $22.7 million. The landlord and Bristol selected Adam Bogorad of CBRE as the third appraiser, who issued a September 30, 2023 report valuing the land at $40.9 million. Bogorad e-mailed his report to the parties’ appraisers, stating: “I have completed my appraisal report and you can find it attached. . . .” His report stated: “CBRE, Inc. has prepared an appraisal” that “sets forth our opinion of [the] fair market value of the subject land to assist in the rent re- setting process.” The report’s analysis opened with “the market value of the subject is concluded as follows,” and then walked the appraisers through Bogorad’s “final value conclusion.” Bogorad’s delivery of his report concluded: “I appreciate the opportunity to have been able to…