Art Momjian – Page 2 – Opportunity Zones – Insights From the Land of OZ

On Tuesday, August 25, 2020, the General Services Administration (“GSA”) announced that it will increase its investment in opportunity zones with owned and leased federal buildings, following an executive order that President Donald Trump signed Monday.

The order directed the GSA to prioritize opportunity zones and other distressed communities in federal agency moves to help bring new economic activity to the neighborhoods and to save taxpayer money by occupying more affordable real estate.

“We are excited to now officially include qualified Opportunity Zones in the list of priorities we formally assess when selecting sites,” GSA Administrator Emily Murphy said in a release. “Yesterday’s Executive Order is consistent with GSA’s long term role in spurring economic development within the communities where our buildings are located.”

The GSA owns or leases 376.9 Million Square feet in 9,600 buildings in over 2,200 communities. As the GSA is the largest owner and user of space in the US by far, this is a very significant development in OZ world.

The opportunity zone program was passed into law in 2018 as a way to incentivize investors to place their equity investments into underserved communities. According to BisNow, beyond using the government’s real estate footprint, the Trump administration has sought to support the opportunity zone program through other methods. The Department of Education last week launched a grant program to help institutions of higher education recover from the coronavirus crisis, and it gives priority to applicants who expand educational access to students in opportunity zones.

Duane Morris has an active Opportunity Zone Team to help organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and invest in Opportunity Zones throughout the USA, including the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. We have closed over 45 OZ deals since their inception and are actively working on over 54 OZ projects for owner/developers, investors and business owners. We would be happy to discussion your proposed project with you. Contact your Duane Morris attorney for more information. Prior Alerts on the topic are available on the team’s webpage.

If you have any questions about this post, please contact Brad A. Molotsky, Scott Gluck, Lee Potter, AK Kastrinakis, Art Momjian or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced $3,548,485,000 in New Markets Tax Credits that are intended to spur investment and economic growth in low-income urban and rural communities nationwide.

A total of 76 Community Development Entities (CDEs) were awarded tax credit allocations, made through the calendar year (CY) 2019 round of the New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program).

“Today’s action demonstrates the Administration’s commitment to promoting economic growth and jobs in distressed communities, and to ensuring that every American can get back to work as quickly as possible,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin.

”For almost 20 years, the New Markets Tax Credit has attracted private capital into businesses and communities as they recover from significant shocks to our economy,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris. “Projects that spur job creation, enable access to technology infrastructure and develop community facilities like federal qualified health centers, are examples of how New Markets Tax Credit investments are especially critical for low-income communities across the country.”

The 76 CDEs receiving awards were selected from a pool of 206 applicants that requested an aggregate total of $14.7 billion in tax credit allocation authority. The award recipients are headquartered in 30 different states and the District of Columbia. One-fifth (20%) of the investments will be made in rural communities. It is estimated that these award recipients will make more than $706 million in New Markets Tax Credit investments in non-metropolitan counties.

Yesterday’s announcement brings the total amount awarded through the NMTC Program to $61 billion. Historically, NMTC Program awards have generated $8 of private investment for every $1 invested by the federal government.

Through the end of fiscal year 2018, the most recent data available, NMTC Program award recipients deployed nearly $52.5 billion in investments in low-income communities and businesses; with impacts such as the creation or retention of more than 836,000 jobs, and the construction or rehabilitation of more than 218.3 million square feet of commercial real estate.

As we have discussed here before, NMTC funds CAN be matched with Opportunity Zone equity as OZ deals can stack with other tax programs to really drive a return for OZ projects. Worthy of consideration.

If you have any questions about this blog post or other NMTC or OZ questions, do not hesitate to reach out, we are happy to discuss at your convenience. Be well and stay safe.

Tag: Art Momjian

Federal GSA prioritizes Opportunity Zones for Owned and Leased Assets – Wow!

Whopper of a New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Allocation from US Treasury ($3.5B) – these funds can be matched with OZ Funds