Owner/President
As an outdoor adventurer Phil Cook values intuitively the world’s incredible beauty, whether skiing the greatest snow on earth, canyoneering red rock country or summiting challenging peaks in rarified air. As an appraiser, he values complex real estate problems by building on the foundation of time-tested principles, pursuing details tenaciously, and simplifying intricate facts and issues for effective communication.
Spanning three decades, Phil’s appraisal work has touched on every type of property. From large- scale resorts and intricate land development projects, power plants and golf courses to complex business properties and impaired real estate, each has undergone Phil’s determined and detailed analysis of value-influencing factors, both retrospective and prospective. Through hundreds of assignments including many properties subject to high-stakes litigation, he has become a trusted and sought-after valuation expert, a compelling and effective witness, and an insightful trial partner for lawyers throughout the country.
Foundationally solid in appraisal skills, Phil honed his expertise in property damages and impaired real estate. Frequent trial appearances have contributed to his reputation as a highly valuable expert witness with a talent for communicating convincingly with triers of fact. Once Phil has composed and delivered his independent assessment of a property, he is a zealous advocate of its accuracy. With the assistance of his highly qualified staff, he has analyzed and critiqued the work of other experts with the same tenacity, and has consulted extensively with litigators on case matters.
In addition to holding the MAI and CRE designations, Phil holds certified general appraiser status in multiple states on full-time and temporary bases. He has taught real estate principles, appraisal and investment, and appraisal standards courses for university and industry students. He has held elected and appointed positions in the appraisal industry nationally, regionally, and at a state level, and for government entities. Phil is a former Chairman of the Utah State Appraiser Board. He currently serves on the Real Estate Board of the David Eccles School of Business and has served on the national Board of the Appraisal Institute.
REPRESENTATIVE CASES
EMINENT DOMAIN: Phil played a leading role in preparing appraisals for right-of-way acquisitions in Pacificorp’s Populus to Ben Lomond new double-circuit 345kV transmission line project, including development of damage studies, and in providing expert valuation and rebuttal testimony in several cases in the 4th District Court for Utah.
BANKRUPTCY: Phil provided consulting and valuation services in Tamarack, LLC’s Tamarack Ski Resort bankruptcy action. The assignment evolved to include damage studies for alleged breach of guaranty and breach of contract claims, and testimony in deposition.
PROPERTY TAX: Phil provided valuation services involving a very large and complex Alliant Techsystems solid rocket motor manufacturing facility, and participated in multiple hearings before the Utah State Tax Commission.
CENTRALLY ASSESSED TAX: Phil has provided valuation services for power generation, telecommunications, airline, pipeline, oil well, and mining properties for companies in Utah that operate across county or state lines and are taxed on a unitary basis; i.e., pro rata based on the value of the tangible assets of the overall enterprise.
DAMAGED REAL ESTATE: Phil provided valuation and damage analyses associated with the failure of a Wind River Petroleum underground storage tank where hydrocarbon contamination migrated extensively throughout a small residential community in central Utah.
APPRAISER MATTERS: Phil has been involved in cases involving appraisers under suit for alleged appraisal improprieties, carefully vetting the issues based on appraisal standards and what was known or knowable to the appraisers as of the relevant dates.
EDUCATION
- MBA, University of Utah, 1982
- B.S. Finance – Concentration in Real Estate, University of Utah, 1980
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS & LICENSES
- Member Appraisal Institute (MAI), #7000
- Member Society of Real Estate Counselors (CRE)
- Certified General Appraiser, State of Utah, #5451057-CG00
- Certified General Appraiser, State of Idaho, #CG111
- Certified General Appraiser, State of New Mexico, #03473-G
- Certified General Appraiser, State of Michigan, #1201075491
- Member International Right-of-Way Association
