Opinion ID: 1983988
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Nature of Petitioner's Ownership Interest

Text: Petitioner argues that its fifty-year lease for lot 803, with two options to renew for an additional twenty-five years each, is equivalent to a fee simple interest in land. Indeed, as petitioner points out, there are purposes for which a long-term leasehold interest is considered or treated the same as real property. See D.C.Code § 45-201 (1990) (estates in land include estates for years); Jacobsen v. Sweeney, 92 U.S.App.D.C. 93, 202 F.2d 461 (1953) (leasehold for a term of years is a chattel real); Camalier & Buckley v. Madison Hotel, 168 U.S.App.D.C. 149, 156, 513 F.2d 407, 414 (1975) (lease for term of years form of ownership for term of the lease); Lake End Corp. v. Township of Rockaway, 185 N.J.Super. 248, 448 A.2d 475, 480 (1982) (99 year lease conveys ownership equivalent to fee simple); Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Ass'n v. Reeves, 75 A. 782, 784 (N.J.Super.Ct.1910) aff'd, 79 A. 1119 (N.J.1911) (a long-term lease in land, renewable in perpetuity, conveys ownership equivalent to fee simple). In the District of Columbia, for recordation tax purposes, a lease for a term in excess of 99 years is treated as real property. D.C.Code § 45-921(3) (1995 Supp.). The recordation requirement is the same for a deed as for a lease longer than one year, D.C.Code § 45-306 (1995 Supp.). As petitioner points out, the purpose of § 306 is to apprise interested parties of the status of the interests in the real property. See D.C.Code § 45-801 (1990); Smart v. Nevins, 298 A.2d 217, 219 (D.C.1972); Fitzgerald v. Wynne, 1 App.D.C. 107, 121 (1893). [4] Petitioner also contends that, even if its long-term ground lease is not considered an ownership interest in the PUD property, its fee ownership of the improvement on lot 803 constitutes an ownership interest in the PUD. For real estate tax purposes, real property is defined as real estate identified by plat on the records of the District of Columbia Surveyor according to lot and square together with improvements thereon. D.C.Code § 47-802(1) (1990). [5] Improvements on land are taxable as real property in the District of Columbia. 1111 19th Street Assocs. v. District of Columbia, 521 A.2d 260, 268 (D.C.), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 927, 108 S.Ct. 291, 98 L.Ed.2d 251 (1987); see D.C.Code §§ 47-821(a), -823 (1990 and 1995 Supp.). It is clear that petitioner has an ownership interest in the ground lease which is treated as real property, at least for certain purposes, and that petitioner owns the building on lot 803. Nevertheless, the question remains whether the petitioner's long-term leasehold interest in lot 803 and its ownership interest in the improvement thereon confer upon petitioner the right to be joined in any application for modification of a separate building on a different lot within the PUD. In determining the answer to this question, consideration must be given to any applicable zoning regulations and to the Commission's practices and procedures.