Pier 67, Inc. v. King County

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Fundamentally, this case presents one problem: the standards of valuation and assessment, for tax purposes, applicable to a leasehold of tax-exempt land owned by the state in perpetuity within the boundaries of a harbor area as defined in article 15 of the Washington constitution.

Plaintiff corporation leased the Seattle harbor land in question from the State of Washington for a period of 30 years. It improved the existing pier by building ‘on it a motor hotel known as the Edgewater Inn. The hotel is permanent in nature and any attempt to remove it would result in its destruction. The…