Sawall Development

SVA Helps Sawall Development Keep Up with Tax Changes

Art Sawall got into the real estate development business in a bit of a unique way. After selling a software company, he found himself with an investment he wasn’t sure what to do with. The way Art tells the story, he bought a lot of “dirt” with the intention to flip it, but “after having lots of cups of coffee and figuring out what a TIF was, I became a real estate developer overnight.” That was nearly 10 years ago, and the company has grown rapidly over that time. Part of that growth included adding another family member in Kevin Sawall, who joined the family business as Executive Vice President.

With growth comes the need for help navigating the complex areas of tax laws, corporate entities, and estate planning. That’s where SVA entered the equation. The company was specifically looking for the best way to structure tax increment financing (TIF) for short-, medium-, and long-term needs. SVA also performed analyses to determine accelerated depreciation schedules, optimizing tax outcomes by balancing immediate tax benefits with long-term planning.

Additionally, Sawall was able to take advantage of the 45L tax credit, a green savings tax credit, on the advice of SVA. “It's really good to know that if there are any grants out there SVA is going to help us take advantage of that,” says Kevin. 

Having a plan for the future is important to Art, so the SVA team worked with Sawall on estate planning, structuring trust control to ensure a smooth transition and tax efficiency for future generations, providing peace of mind.

Art has been pleased with the response time working with SVA. “SVA is extremely responsive, extremely knowledgeable. That's the key. I value responsiveness and I get that from SVA. It doesn't take me five phone calls and thousands of dollars of research to get a response.”