OZ Investments Surge As The Program Attempts To Emerge From The Uncertainty Of Its Early Years
February 17, 2022 | Dees Stribling | Bisnow
A year-end deadline for tax benefits and more clarity made 2021 a banner year for the opportunity zones program, with $6.9B invested in qualified opportunity funds in the latter half of the year, up 39% from the first half of the year, new data shows.
California is top of mind for OZ investors, as are residential projects, according to a report from accounting and consulting firm Novogradac.
Novogradac is one of the few firms that provides insight into the OZ program, which has faced criticism over the years regarding a lack of transparency, and whether investments are being directed toward distressed communities, as was originally intended.
“There’s much more clarity now around OZs,” PTM Partners CEO Michael Tillman said. “We all remember the lack of clarity at the beginning, but that’s mostly been worked through, and investors are more comfortable and even more enthusiastic.”
Clarity wasn’t the order of the day in the first few years of the program, which was created by language in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 with the goal of encouraging investment in low-income census tracks.
