Midway through the life cycle of the federal opportunity zone program, investors are pouring money into projects in the zones at a faster clip than at any point so far in the program’s short life, trying to capitalize on the benefits while they can and mitigate some of the financial impact of macroeconomic downdrafts.
Nearly five years after the opportunity zone program was created by the 185-page Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, and three years after its regulations were finalized, opportunity zones have attracted perhaps as much as $100B in investment capital, much of it for real estate development. Qualified opportunity…