The staffs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) have provided a summary of the Opportunity Zone incentive that briefly discusses the program and describes the compliance implications for Opportunity Funds under federal and state securities laws.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced that it will co-lead an Opportunity Zone-focused workforce challenge of the U.S. Census Bureau's "The Opportunity Project (TOP)" initiative. TOP is an accelerator program that matches tech companies, universities, government, and communities together to create useful digital products for the public.

The second and likely final public hearing for the Opportunity Zones incentive showed that the incentive's staunchest advocates are still hoping the federal government makes some changes to the rules before they are finalized. The second hearing was held on July 9, 2019.

Harvest Returns, a Fort Worth-based investment platform for agriculture, announced that it has launched the Sustainable Agriculture Opportunity Zone Fund to help farmers in Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs). With Harvest Returns' new fund, it intends to achieve tax-advantaged capital appreciation in projects that are sustainable economically, socially, and environmentally.

PACE Equity recently completed funding $4.3 million for the construction of a new Hyatt House hotel in Rochester, Minnesota. It is notably the first Opportunity Zone fund project in the nation to include PACE funding to date. The hotel developer turned to PACE Equity, who ultimately funded $4.3 million. The remainder of the capital stack was provided by a construction loan of $29.7 million and $14.4 million equity.

A significant majority of qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs) have focused on real estate development, but QOFs that target investments in infrastructure projects including electric generating and storage facilities may present compelling opportunities for developers and investors.

The OZ life cycle consists of three distinct waves; the land rush, the business boom, and the end zone. Wave two, or the business boom, will be the sweet spot of the OZ program as OZ businesses have the potential to generate much better investor returns than real estate projects. As with venture investing in general, the target returns for OZ business investing should be at least 10 times the investment.

The SC Opportunity Zone Summit will take place on October 10th at the Greenville, SC Convention Center. This one-day summit offers a glance at how investors can maximize the positive impact of Opportunity Zones throughout South Carolina. U.S. Senator Tim Scott, along with an array of industry experts, business leaders and community stakeholders will be in attendance.

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