Cleveland Developer Properly Denied $22.6 Million Tax Deduction

A real estate developer can’t claim a $22.6 million tax deduction on a downtown Cleveland building it redeveloped on the theory that it also could have developed a new skyscraper on the site, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.

The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision finding that Millennia Cos. affiliate Corning Place Ohio LLC wasn’t entitled to a charitable contribution tax deduction for its donation of a conservation easement on a former 11-story office building in the center of the city.

Corning Place isn’t entitled to a tax deduction because it tried ...