Opportunity Zone (OZ) in commercial real estate is a topic of conversation that is trending these days. OZs were created as a part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. It acts as a solution to stimulate economic growth and create jobs in some of the country’s most economically impoverished areas by incentivizing investors to redistribute their capital there through real estate investment and development. In return, the investors can maximize their profits with a hoard of tax benefits through 2026 from the scheme. Hence, opportunity zones in real estate are stockpiles of real potential for investors. In this article, we outline the basics and advantages of investing in opportunity zones.
What is an Opportunity Zone (OZ)?
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) defines an Opportunity zone (OZs) as ‘an economically-distressed community where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment.” Low-income census tracts characterize these geographic areas.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act passed by Congress in December 2017, created the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program. Governors nominated communities and defined areas that fall into the low-income census tracts.
The idea was to redirect private capital investments and gains to such economically distressed areas. The real estate investment projects would create jobs in these communities which in turn would ensure a healthy income flow. As a result, these economically backward areas would be a hotbed for transformation, employment as well as economic recovery.
QOZ investments in return subject real estate investors to several tax benefits and incentives. By investing realized capital gains in QOZ, real estate investors can defer or even eliminate tax liabilities on realized gains. Furthermore, investment tax incentives provide investors with high after-tax returns which are almost double the traditional real estate investments. However, time is of the essence if the investors want to avail of every special tax treatment and incentive.
Read Lilypads’ article on how Opportunity Zone investments are better than 1031 Exchanges here.
What qualifies as an Opportunity Zone?
After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed in 2017, the governors of U.S. states and territories (and the mayor of Washington, DC) were asked to nominate census tracts until April 2018. The Secretary of the U.S Treasury via the delegation of authority to the Internal Revenue Service must certify the nomination.
In order to qualify to become an Opportunity Zone, an area needs to meet the criteria for income set by IRS, including:
- A minimum poverty rate of 20%
- A median family income must be less than or equal to 80% of the statewide median family income in metropolitan or non-metropolitan areas.
The governors can nominate no more than 25% of census tracts in each of these qualified states. For another 5% of the census tracts to be eligible to become an opportunity zone, they must comply with certain criteria. The particular area should be adjoining a current Opportunity zone. Furthermore, the median family income in the area is not more than 125% of the median family income in the surrounding opportunity zone.
Where are qualified investment opportunity zones located?
Initially, in April 2018, there were just 18 states that were nominated for the program. However, since then the program has expanded and covered all 50 states.
It also includes Washington D.C., and US territories like Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, etc. Presently, there are 8766 opportunity zones in both rural and urban areas throughout the US.
This adds up to approximately 12% of the census tracts in the country.
Over 35 million reside in the opportunity zones with about 7.5 million living in poverty. Such opportunity zones are generally located within a county that has persistently been impoverished by at least 20% for 30 years.
Opportunity Zones are located throughout the country. In order to locate the designated qualified opportunity zones, investors can check the IRS notices 2018-48.
How to invest in an Opportunity Zone?
Investors must invest their qualified eligible capital gains in an opportunity zone via an Opportunity Fund on or before December 31, 2026, to qualify for the accompanying tax benefits.
A qualified opportunity fund is a partnership or a corporation that must be organized for the purpose of investing in a qualified opportunity zone. The corporation must invest 90% of its assets in the form of qualified capital gains in a qualified opportunity zone. The IRS describes it as an ‘investment vehicle’.
The treasury department in October 2018 stated that opportunity funds must self-certify that they will fulfill the 90% asset requirement. They must fill the form 8996 with their federal tax return.
The fund receives a penalty if it fails to meet the 90% asset criteria. In the absence of an external agency to approve the fund, private market fund managers undertake the task of managing the opportunity funds.
Investors can extract eligible capital gains by selling assets such as stock, partnership interest, private business, or real estate. Furthermore, investors should invest their gains into the qualified opportunity fund within 180 days of the sale of the asset. The investors can also put their non-qualified gains into the opportunity funds.
However, this capital will be treated as a separate investment and will not be conferred similar tax incentives.
How do Opportunity zone investment funds operate?
The opportunity fund must deploy its capital in QOZ businesses that acquire, construct or redevelop tangible business property within the QOZ and derive 50% or more of income from the QOZ. These funds can also invest in real estate or other hard assets that are used as a trade or a business property within a qualified opportunity zone.
After purchasing the business property, the O fund must undertake substantial improvements to the property within the first 30 months. If an O fund undertakes the rehabilitation of a building, it must make sure that the cost of improvements exceeds the original cost of purchasing the property.
In either case, O funds are subject to review on a half-yearly and annual basis. This is to ensure that the funds are actually revitalizing the low-income area in question.
There are approximately 927 opportunity funds that consistently invest in a broad spectrum of geographic locations and asset types including:
- Affordable housing
- Commercial real estate like office, retail, industrial, and hospitality
- Workforce housing
- Healthcare
- Sustainable agriculture
- Manufacturing
- Historic buildings
- Clean energy
The O funds must seek to define the ‘original use’ and purposes for the business properties that are vacant, abandoned, or portable.
In addition to this, the opportunity fund should provide the investors with an offering memorandum.
The memorandum provides the market summary of an opportunity zone and the economic outlook and projected ROI.
As a result, the investors can verify the practicability of the investment beforehand. This way the opportunity funds also demonstrate the authenticity of their credentials and experience in the business.
Proposed changes in 2020
- To meet the requirement, at least 70% of a business property that is used for business or trade purposes must fall in a qualified opportunity zone.
- Apart from real estate, opportunity funds can invest in businesses operating within the qualified opportunity zones. These businesses must source half of the company’s wages or employee hours in QOZ, to qualify for the 50% income requirement criteria.
- If a business invests 50% of the total amount the company pays for its services to undertake various services in the QOZ, it qualifies for opportunity fund investment.
Read Lilypads’ article on Opportunity zone tax benefits here.
The Lilypads Bottomline:
Opportunity Zone investments offer several lucrative benefits for real estate investors as well as the underprivileged communities
Opportunity zone real estate investments aim at boosting economic growth in urban, suburban, and rural regions of the country and also incentivize investors in their investments. So, investors can enjoy tax-deferred gains on the original investment of up to 15% depending on their holding period. However, just like any real estate investment, the investors must conduct proper due diligence and invest according to their risk tolerance.