IVC Webinar: Determining the Larger Parcel (REGISTRATION IS CLOSED)

International Valuation Committee Webinar: Determining the Larger Parcel     
Date: October 29, 2025       
CE Credits: 2 CE       
Time: 10am - 12pm am Pacific       
No tuition fee, but registration is required.   

Description       
Drill down to the core. Learn how Federal Agency Review Appraisers view the larger parcel. See how the definition tests are applied with case studies ranging from salt harvesting operations to large-scale conservation easements. Consider impacts by jurisdiction and supplemental standards like the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition (UASFLA, also known as “Yellow Book”). 

This webinar will feature four presentations covering the essential components of larger parcel determination in real estate appraisal:   
  • Highest and Best Use 
  • Unity of Title   
  • Unity of Location/Contiguity   
  • Unity of Use   

For a tailored webinar experience by submitting your questions or comments in advance. Send your questions or comments to education@irwaonline.org to have them addressed by the speakers during the webinar. 

The sessions will address how larger parcel definitions and tests vary by jurisdiction (federal vs. state), the appraiser’s responsibility in making larger parcel determinations, and practical applications. Case studies ranging from salt harvesting operations to large-scale conservation easement acquisitions, with particular focus on federal appraisals under the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition (UASFLA) will also be discussed.       

"Introduction" presented by Barbara Kaczmarek       
This will be the first presentation of the webinar, as it introduces the subject of the other three presentations and describes:     
  • The difference between Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP) and UASFLA – valuing the taking vs. making property owner whole.       
  • Highest and Best Use – four tests apply, but first, what real property is being affected by the taking?       
  • Importance of the larger parcel and then defining the larger parcel.     
      
"Unity of Title" presented by Mark Worthen       
  • The test(s) of unity of title, and the resulting answers(s) are dependent on the larger parcel definition being used and the case law applicable to the jurisdiction that the subject property is located in (Federal, specific State etc.).     
  • That it is the responsibility of appraisers to make the Larger Parcel determination; however, legal instruction may be required for the unity of title test. * The most common test of unity for federal appraisals under UASFLA (unity of title being exact). * The most common non-federal test for unity of title (beneficial control)     
  • How leases and easement have played a part in different courts’ determinations of unity of title.     
  • Examples of case law that illustrate the points to be conveyed     

"Unity of Location (Contiguity)" presented by Eric Roman     
Participants will recognize that the physical contiguousness is directly related to the determination of the highest and best use in both the before and after condition analysis.     

The presentation will begin with definitions of Larger Parcel taken from the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition. The presenter indicates that contiguousness is not mentioned by the concept of an integrated highest and best use is.     

A case study is presented in which the relatively small acquisition area is found on a parcel that is part of a much larger salt harvesting by evaporation. Test of Learning - Students must discern if there is enough connection (physical/legal) to constitute an integrated highest and best use and determine the larger parcel.     

"Unity of Use" presented by Tim Hansen     
Not all appraisals that are required to follow the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition (UASFLA or Yellow Book) are completed for infrastructure related acquisitions. The example of the Banded Peak Ranch Conservation Easement Acquisition in southern Colorado demonstrates the larger parcel considerations related to the acquisition of a16,000+ acre conservation easement on a family ranch of over 65,000 acres.     

Several important areas related to larger parcel are explored including:     
  • The concept of integrated highest and best use.     
  • Split ownership with existing conservation easements on two of the three parcels comprising the ranch.     
  • The potential for mineral development where mineral rights are a severable estate.     

This example will provide a landscape-scale example of larger parcel determination that many appraisers are not exposed to.
 

 

Steven Kunkel has more than 40 years of real estate appraisal experience. He is currently the chief appraiser for the Western Area Power Administration, an agency within the Department of Energy. Mr. Kunkel is designated by the Appraisal Institute as an MAI. He is also certified by the State of Texas as a real estate appraiser and licensed by the State of Texas as a real estate broker. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Mr. Kunkel is also the managing member of KIP Realty, LLC, a full-service professional real estate services firm based in Texas. The firm provides brokerage, appraisal, property tax, and right-of-way services. Mr. Kunkel has completed appraisal assignments on properties located in many parts of Texas, as well as Louisiana, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Arizona. He has appraised many types of special-use properties including retirement centers, recreational facilities, churches, restaurants, automobile dealerships, hotels and motels, car wash facilities, and railroad right-of-way.

Mr. Kunkel has been involved in the right-of-way field for more than 35 years and has completed a variety of right-of-way appraisals, including many partial acquisitions. He has been qualified as an expert witness in real estate valuation in several County Courts at Law in Texas, Texas State District Courts, and U.S. Federal Bankruptcy court. He has also served as a Special Commissioner in Tarrant County Court at Law.

Mr. Kunkel is a member of the Appraisal Institute and the International Right of Way Association. He has instructed appraisal courses for both organizations. Mr. Kunkel served the International Right-of-Way Association as Chapter 36 President, and he currently serves on the International Valuation Committee. He also served as the chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment for the City of Arlington, Texas and was a board member of the Pantego Economic Development Corporation.

    

Speaker Bios:

 

Barbara Kaczmarek is FAA’s Lead Appraiser directing real property policy and guidelines for this agency. Additional duties include the creation of appraisal and real property education while providing appraisal review and consulting services regarding airport development nationwide and within U.S. Territories.     

Prior to this position, she was the Fair Market Value National Program Manager for GSA Public Building Service. This program provides GSA with appraisal and consulting expertise and insight regarding potential dispositions, asset review and the effect on market value of completing major capital review and renovation projects on generally between three and five billion dollars of U.S. government owned real property. Most of this property was historic with a focus on office buildings, courthouses, and special use properties.     

Before employment with the Federal government, she provided appraisal review and valuation services to Walmart, had her own appraisal practice in Denver, Colorado and was employed by both national and local realty firms including a national accounting firm, Grubb & Ellis, and Marcus & Millichap. Barbara is a designated MAI member of the Appraisal Institute, a licensed Independent Colorado Real Estate Broker, and was GSA’s delegate to the Appraisal Foundation. 

 

 

 

Eric E. Roman has over 30 years of professional appraisal and valuation experience, and currently serves as the Chief Appraiser for the South Pacific Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The scope of Mr. Roman’s work includes appraisals and appraisal reviews of improved and unimproved properties for civil and military projects, valuation of agricultural, residential, commercial, and industrial properties for flood control, transportation improvement, and pipeline projects, as well as acquisition and disposition of other real property rights. Work is performed in conformance with the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisitions, Uniform Relocation Assistance and Real Property Acquisition Policies Act, Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice, and state and federal guidelines.

Prior to joining the USACE, Mr. Roman spent 12 years as the Appraisal Department Manager at Associated Right of Way Services, Inc. (AR/WS), overseeing the daily operation of the AR/WS appraisal staff and completing appraisals for full and partial acquisitions. Prior to joining the AR/WS team, Mr. Roman worked for several private sector companies. As a Senior Real Estate Appraiser at CB Richard Ellis, Inc., Mr. Roman appraised complicated income producing properties and proposed projects including condominium conversions, office, industrial, retail, multi-family housing, parking facilities, and unimproved land primarily for lending or acquisition purposes. As Portfolio Associate with AMB Property Company, he provided portfolio management including development, acquisition, and disposition strategy and support; quarterly reporting to joint venture partners; calculation of fund and partnership internal rates of return; and internal valuations and third-party appraisal review. As Property Tax Services Manager with KPMG, LLP and Deloitte & Touche, LLP, Mr. Roman performed property tax services including arbitration of assessed values and testimony before the Assessment Appeal Boards and Boards of Equalization. As Senior Consultant, Valuation Services with Arthur Andersen, LLP, Mr. Roman appraised income producing properties for property, income, and estate tax purposes. He also performed cost segregation assignments and feasibility analysis and traditional lender, merger, and acquisition appraisals. As a Real Estate Consultant with Wallace & Steichen, Mr. Roman performed site selection, feasibility studies, fair market rent surveys, and appraisal services; and as Staff Appraiser with Cushman & Wakefield, Mr. Roman appraised income producing property and unimproved land primarily for lending and acquisition.     

Mr. Roman earned a Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley, is a State of California Certified General Real Estate Appraiser, and holds several professional designations including MAI and AI-GRS from the Appraisal Institute, and the SR/WA, and R/W-AC designations from the International Right of Way Association (IRWA). He served as IRWA President, Chapter 2/International Director and is still involved in the IRWA Valuation Community of Practice. Currently, Mr. Roman is a Director of the Northern California Chapter of the Appraisal Institute and serves as a Regional Representative. Mr. Roman also volunteers with the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Auxiliary), currently holding the grade of Major.
 

 

Timothy J. Hansen is the owner and principal of Blue Ridge Valuation Consulting in Arvada, Colorado. Tim is a Certified General Appraiser in Colorado and West Virginia and an accredited member of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers and National Association of Appraisers. Tim recently retired from the Federal Government’s Senior Executive Service where he served as the Director of the Appraisal and Valuation Services Office (AVSO) within the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. AVSO provides valuation services for five Department of the Interior (DOI) bureaus that collectively manage 500 million acres of surface estate: Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Prior to the Director position, Tim served as the Chief Appraiser for the Department of the Interior and the Department’s valuation expert. Tim is a named contributor to the 6th Edition of the Uniform Appraisal Standards for Federal Land Acquisition (UASFLA or Yellow Book).     

In 2024, Tim was appointed to a 3-year term on the Appraisal Standards Board of The Appraisal Foundation and in 2025 was appointed as Vice-Chair of the ASB. Tim previously served as the Chair of The Appraisal Foundation Advisory Council (TAFAC), the President of the Colorado Chapter of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers (ASFMRA) and as a board member of the Colorado Coalition of Appraisers.     

Tim holds a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and Management and a Master of Public Administration degree with a graduate minor in Environment and Natural Resources from the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Wyoming. In 2024, Tim completed an Executive Certificate in Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School.

 

 

Mr. Worthen has been an appraiser with NAVFAC since his initial hire at NAVFAC Southeast in 2007 and the Chief Appraiser since 2012. He is responsible for planning, directing and administering the Navy’s world-wide appraisal program within the framework of policies and procedures established by applicable law, directives and standards as well as management of the NAVFAC appraisal community. Mr. Worthen serves as a consultant and advisor on technical appraisal matters to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (EI&E), coordinates government wide appraisal issues with other agencies and is the Navy’s official liaison to the Appraisal Foundation and professional appraisal organizations. As Chief Appraiser he is the Navy’s principal authority on real estate valuation issues and has final authority for approval or rejection of all appraisal valuations performed or considered by the Navy.

Mr. Worthen’s previous appraisalexperience includes fourteenyears with the Florida Department of Transportation where he worked on a high volume of condemnation appraisals for total and partial acquisitions of all property types and spent his last five years on the litigation team. Prior to that Mr. Worthen worked at F.P. Worthen & Associates, an appraisal firm in Memphis, TN, specializing in commercial and condemnation appraisal services.

Mr. Worthen completed ten years of active naval service and twenty years of reserve service as a Naval Aircrewman on P-3, SH-3 and C-40 aircraft. He accumulated over ten thousandflight hours flying missions worldwide in support of theater commanders and retired at the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer.

Mr. Worthen holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of the State of New York and a Certified General Appraiser license from the State of Florida.