LISC, in collaboration with CDFA and with support from the Ford Foundation, has released Navigating the Opportunity Zones: Community Partners. The release is the first installment of the LISC Opportunity Zones Playbook series, and is geared to the people and organizations committed to community revitalization and shared prosperity for all residents. The Playbook is broken into the following six community action steps:

  Step 1: Hold a Stakeholder Meeting
  Get the lay of the land, educate partners about Opportunity Zone policy, and engage key players.

  Step 2: Embark on a Plan for Work in the Opportunity Zones
  Assess the terrain, map and support community planning, and unroll a community planning   process.

  Step 3: Incentives and Guardrails in the Opportunity Zones
  Tapping policies and public programs that can help bolster success - and minimize risks - for   communities.

  Step 4: Collaborating to Build a Pipeline and Leverage Local Expertise
  By forging a consortium or grant programs, or by modeling the financial feasibility of projects,   community partners can begin to kindle Opportunity Zone projects.

  Step 5: Ramp Up Your Investor Marketing
  Creating a prospectus, marketing your Opportunity Zone, and other strategies for connecting with   investors.

  Step 6: Develop Impact Metrics and Encourage Transparency
  Rigorous evaluation and accessible reporting are keys to inclusive and equitable success in the   Opportunity Zones.

Financing experts from HUD and USDA will provide an outline of how their respective financing and grant programs can drive investments into Opportunity Zones. CDFA will center the discussion around USDA Rural Development programs and HUD programs within the office of Community Planning and Development. We hope you'll join the discussion!

Menkiti Group is partnering with LISC to launch a $100M Opportunity Fund that will start with projects in D.C.'s Anacostia neighborhood and in Worcester, MA. The development firm's experience working in emerging neighborhoods and its pipeline of projects gives it an advantage over institutional funds that are entering the market for the first time.

NeuroRescue, a medical device company focused on improving outcomes in patients following cardiac arrest with return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC), head trauma, fever in the ICU and stroke, is relocating from Ohio to Lafayette, LA to take advantage of the Oil Center's Opportunity Zone.

Following the closing of a financial package primarily composed of funds from an investor under the new federal Opportunity Zone program, construction crews are starting work on the $23 million Tappan apartments in Cleveland's Tremont neighborhood. About 80% of the project's cost is financed by Opportunity Fund equity.

A string of recent Washington DC projects have recently closed on Opportunity Zone projects, as leaders across the OZ space indicate that investment activity has begun to heat up following the April release of key IRS regulations. Nevertheless, the majority of potential OZ project capital is still waiting on the sidelines.

The U.S. Economic Development Administration has added Opportunity Zones as an agency Investment Priority. This new Investment Priority will significantly increase the number of catalytic Opportunity Zone-related projects that EDA can fund to spur greater public investment in these areas.

The Greater Cleveland Partnership, in conjunction with Cleveland Development Advisors, is launching a $50 million real-estate Opportunity Fund to target the 64 Opportunity Zones in Cuyahoga County. The fund is called Opportunity CLE Development Fund. The organization anticipates the fund will spur more than $700 million in investments over the next 15 years.

Governor Kay Ivey has signed the Alabama Incentives Modernization Act (the AIM Act) into law. At the heart of the Act is a first-of-its-kind framework designed to provide the best and most impact-oriented Opportunity Zone investments with aligned state-level capital gains tax breaks, potential state investment dollars, and new impact investment tax credits to de-risk investments.

Several states add tax incentives to their OZs as well as extending their state Historic Tax Credits. Maryland expanded state tax incentives to OZs, Hawaii to conform to the IRS Code for investments in federal OZs, and legislation in Texas to create a 25 percent tax credit for investments in OZs.

The Opportunity Zones incentive has started to bloom in Maine as investors become familiar with new regulations. However, Opportunity Zones have yet to attract heavy investment, despite creating a buzz in development circles.

>>> VIEW THE OPPORTUNITY ZONES RESOURCE CENTER