The topic of Opportunity Zones has been appearing everywhere lately. We recently attended the Urban Land Institute (ULI) of Colorado’s Opportunity Zones event to learn more and to educate ourselves. There were six speakers that shared their expertise on Opportunity Zones, including a representative from the State of Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Here are the highlights of what we learned.
Opportunity Zones were recently introduced as a part of the 2017 federal tax reform to spur economic growth in designated low-income communities by offering preferential tax treatment for new investments in residential and commercial development. There are currently 126 Opportunity Zones across Colorado.
Photo Courtesy of Choose Colorado
As an investor, there are many benefits to investing in an Opportunity Zone:
Capitalizing on an Opportunity Zone gives investors who want to give back a new way of investing funds to improve the cities that they love.
One of the speakers at the ULI event was Kurt Soukup with Bighorn Crossing who spoke highly of this opportunity for multifamily development. Kurt said “This is a great opportunity for multifamily, particularly when looking at an after-tax basis. Jurisdictions are on board for facilitating and are receptive and have a need for attainable housing. There is plenty of opportunity out there. Almost everyone has done a housing study. The capital is out there.”
For more information on Opportunity Zones in Colorado, head to the Choose Colorado Website.
Opportunity Zone Map of Colorado Courtesy of Choose Colorado