Scott Gluck – Page 2 – Opportunity Zones – Insights From the Land of OZ

September 25, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

Treasury awards $204.1M in CDFI Funds to Low Income Native American Communities

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced and awarded 397 Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) $204.1 million in awards.

The awards, through the fiscal year (FY) 2020 round of the Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program) and the Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program), will enable CDFIs to increase lending and investment activity in low-income and economically distressed communities across the nation.

“I am proud to announce the fiscal year 2020 CDFI Program and NACA Program Award Recipients,” said CDFI Fund Director Jodie Harris. “These organizations are providing vital economic development and financial services to neighborhoods, businesses, and families. I am especially proud that we have 91 new organizations receiving awards this year, expanding the opportunity of this program to even more communities across the country.”

The CDFI Program invests in and builds the capacity of CDFIs to serve low-income people and communities lacking adequate access to affordable financial products and services.

For the FY 2020 CDFI Program round, the CDFI Fund awarded $142.8 million in Base-Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards to 357 organizations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. In addition to the Base-Financial Assistance awards, the CDFI Fund will also provide the following supplemental Financial Assistance awards:

• $22 million to 13 CDFIs through the Healthy Food Financing Initiative-Financial Assistance (HFFI-FA) awards, a supplemental program designed to encourage investments in businesses that provide healthy food options for communities;

• $4 million to 17 CDFIs through the Disability Funds-Financial Assistance (DF-FA) awards, a supplemental program designed to help CDFIs finance projects and services that will assist individuals with disabilities; and

• $18.5 million to 106 CDFIs through the Persistent Poverty Counties-Financial Assistance (PPC-FA) awards, which is a supplemental program designed to encourage investments in Persistent Poverty Counties nationwide.

The NACA Program facilitates the creation and advancement of Native CDFIs, which are Certified CDFIs that must predominantly serve Native American, Alaska Native, and/or Native Hawaiian communities. A diversity of institutions in various stages of development are supported by the NACA Program, including: organizations in the early planning stages of CDFI formation; tribal entities working to certify an existing lending program; and established Native CDFIs in need of further capacity building assistance.

Per Treasury’s press release, the CDFI Fund awarded $15.2 million in FY 2020 NACA Program Base-Financial Assistance and Technical Assistance awards to 40 organizations in 18 states. In addition, the CDFI Fund awarded $1.6 million in NACA Program PPC-FA awards to 11 Native CDFIs.

Duane Morris has an active Opportunity Zone Team to help CDCs and other organizations and individuals plan, respond to, and invest in Opportunity Zones and low income areas 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, Keli Isaacson Whitlock, AK Kastrinakis, Art Momjian or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

September 11, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

Bill to require the SBA to train Field Representatives regarding Opportunity Zones and OZ Benefits introduced in the House

Reps. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., and William Timmons, R-S.C., introduced the Increasing Opportunities for Small Businesses Act of 2020 (H.R. 8120).

According to Novogradac, the Bill would require the Small Business Administration (SBA) to train representatives on the opportunity zones (OZ) incentive. Trained field representatives would serve as a point of contact for OZ questions and resources, educate elected leaders within their areas and hold an annual seminar in each state to educate managers of qualified opportunity funds, qualified opportunity zone businesses, state and local government officials and other interested persons on how to benefit from OZ investments.

The director of each SBA regional office would be required to submit an annual report on the success of trained field representatives, including any problems and best practices.

Continued positive steps by the House and the White House on directing various federal agencies to prioritize resource allocations and program dollars to help low income areas in various OZs throughout the US, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

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, Keli Isaacson Whitlock, AK Kastrinakis, Art Momjian or the attorney in the firm with whom you are regularly in contact.

Be well and stay safe.

August 26, 2020 by Brad A. Molotsky

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

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.