Opportunity Zones

A new article from Glen Graff, Attorney at Applegate & Thorne-Thomsen, published in Novogradac and Company’s Journal of Tax Credits April 2019 issue covers the issues and opportunities when combining Opportunity Zones and LIHTC.

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Boston invites applications from community development corporations (CDCs) and community housing development corporations (CHDOs) in Massachusetts for capacity building support to drive inclusive investment in one or more low income communities that has been designated a federally-qualified opportunity zone by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

President Trump named Scott Turner as the executive director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. Turner will work with HUD Secretary Ben Carson who chairs the council to direct federal funding to opportunity zones. Turner served in the Texas House of Representatives from 2013 through 2017 and played in the NFL from 1995 to 2004 for the Washington Redskins, San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos

HUD is seeking comments and recommendations on how to best align HUD policy, practices, planned action, regulations and guidance with Opportunity Zones. This request for information aligns with Executive Order 13853 which created the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council and directed federal agencies to prioritize or focus Federal investments and programs on urban and economically distressed communities, including qualified opportunity zones. Comments are due on June 17.

A Multifamily in Focus research paper released by Freddie Mac shows that the Opportunity Zones tax incentives will likely lead to a significant influx of capital to multifamily investments in Opportunity Zones. The research paper compares a hypothetical investment under the tax structures offered by both traditional and Opportunity Fund circumstances.

Secretary Carson recently traveled to Miami to tour Tuscany Village Housing Complex, an apartment community located in an Opportunity Zone. Tuscany Village Housing Complex was recently built to provide affordable housing for low-income, elderly families in the neighborhood. This Miami community is just one of 427 Opportunity Zones which were designated by the Florida Governor […]

Secretary Ben Carson said HUD will give preference to developers and investors who build affordable housing in federal Opportunity Zones when it comes to certain grants. In an interview with The Real Deal, Sec. Carson said, “if you are doing a project within an Opportunity Zone and you are applying for one of our grants, you get some preference. So that, along with the tax advantages, will drive people to look at those (areas). We are also offering very specific technical assistance to help them coordinate their efforts.”

While many tax credit fund managers are looking to expand into opportunity zone funds, there may be important differences in how they are treated for regulatory purposes. In this article, Daniel McAvoy, Forrest David Milder, John H. Cornell, III and David F. Schon with Nixon Peabody discuss certain additional considerations that O-zone fund managers may […]

This New York Time article explores some of the more than 80 Opportunity Zone Funds that have been set up so far. Some impact investors — whose aim is to make money while funding projects that bring about social or economic benefits — are targeting their funds toward areas in the Southeast and industrial Midwest. […]

This New York Times article explains the benefits of the Opportunity Zones program for investors, developers and communities. “It’s arguably the most significant tax break in decades,” said Ben Miller, co-founder and chief executive of Fundrise, a real estate crowdfunding site that is sponsoring an opportunity fund. The funds are generally not for small-time investors. […]

A new National Opportunity Zones Ranking report ranks each of the designated Opportunity Zones based on its Smart Growth Potential as well as its Social Equity and Vulnerability Index score to create a “Smart Growth Potential” filter for investors to identify which Opportunity Zones should be prioritized for investment from a triple-bottom-line perspective that can deliver positive economic, environmental and social returns.

MassINC, the Massachusetts Smart Growth Alliance, and LOCUS are hosting a forum on Feb. 27, 2019 focused on stimulating transformative investment in Gateway Cities with the state’s Housing Development Incentive Program (HDIP) and federal Opportunity Zone Funds. The free event will run from 1-2:30 pm ET in the Massachusetts State House – Room 428 (24 […]