Opportunity Zones

Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC) recently published Navigating the Opportunity Zones: Community Partners, the first installment of LISC’s Opportunity Zones Playbook series.Forthcoming playbooks will be targeted to impact investors and impact developers looking to harness the Opportunity Zones incentive and create positive change in America’s urban and rural communities.

Two HUD proposed rules seek to create flexibilities in the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and HOME Investment Partnerships programs to incentivize their use in Opportunity Zones.

HUD’s Housing Notice 2019-07 provides incentives for multi-family property owners to invest in Opportunity Zones across the nation. Applicants to FHA’s Section 221(d)(4), Section 220 and Section 223(f) will be eligible for significantly lower application fees provided the property is located within an Opportunity Zone.

Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Tim Scott (R-SC) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced S. 1344 which would require the Secretary of the Treasury to collect data and issue a report on the Opportunity Zone (OZ) tax incentives.

On April 17, the IRS and Treasury released the second set of proposed regulations relating to the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program. The Proposed Regulations clarify several important issues within the QOZ program, summarized by Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP below. Please contact one of the members of Katten’s Opportunity Zone Working Group for further information.

Novogradac and Company released Part II of its analysis of the second tranche of Opportunity Zones regulations. In addition to the issues discussed in Part I, Michael Novogradac covers some of the issues getting the most attention including…

This blog from Glenn A. Graff, Dan Klaff, Eric Mittereder and Ben Swartzendruber with Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen highlights some of the questions addressed by the second set of OZ regulations.

Forrest David Milder with Nixon Peabody released this alert on the second round of Opportunity Zone Guidance released by the Department of the Treasury.

NH&RA member Michael Novogradac, CPA, discussed the second tranche of opportunity zones (OZ) guidance released by Treasury in a Notes from Novogradac blog post. The post is Part I of a two-part series reviewing the issues addressed in the release, as well as some of the open questions that remain.

The White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (Council) published its Implementation Plan, outlining a detailed work plan for how the Council—chaired by HUD Secretary Ben Carson—will accomplish the goals specified in Executive Order 13583 of December 12, 2018.In addition to developing an “OpportunityZones.gov” website, the Council and its Executive Director Scott Turner will be conducting listening tour sessions of rural, urban and suburban Opportunity Zones and other distressed communities throughout the remainder of 2019.

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) released a notice and request for information on data collection for Opportunity Zone investments. Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) are required to file a Form 8996 and Treasury anticipates possible revisions to that form that could assist in data collection.  

The Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a new notice of proposed rule making on Opportunity Zones. A public hearing will be held on July 9 at 10 am EDT at the New Carrollton Federal Building at 5000 Ellin Road in Lanham, Maryland 20706.