Garden-style multifamily buildings often allow for reallocation of over 40% of the property's value to 5-, 7-, or 15-year depreciation categories through cost segregation, compared to the typical 20-30% for high-rises, accelerating tax deductions and improving cash flow.

These properties feature more qualifying 15-year depreciable assets like parking lots, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, green spaces, pools, playgrounds, and recreational areas, which are less prevalent in high-rises that focus on vertical space.

The dispersed layout with multiple low-rise buildings increases the proportion of exterior and site work components (e.g., separate roofs, walkways, and utilities per building) that can be segregated into faster depreciation classes, unlike the centralized structure of high-rises.

High-rises have a larger share of costs tied to integral building components (e.g., deep foundations, elevators, and core systems) that often remain in the longer 27.5-year depreciation category, limiting overall tax efficiency compared to garden-style setups.

The combination of more land improvements and higher reallocation percentages results in larger upfront deductions, making garden-style buildings "hot" candidates for cost segregation studies with superior tax deferral benefits over high-rises.