Developers, investors race to capitalize on ‘opportunity zones’ tax break

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4 thoughts on “Developers, investors race to capitalize on ‘opportunity zones’ tax break

  1. So basically all of downtown is an opportunity zone. That wouldn’t be the case if Indy was an economically healthy city. It’s not, though. It’s more like Detroit, Baltimore and St. Louis than it is any place where thinking people would want to live.

    1. There is really no reason for this level of pessimism. Indy is not perfect but it is not the slightest bit similar to the cities to which you compare it. And furthermore, you didn’t even bother to do any research before making this post. Designated areas were eligible for the following reasons:
      The tract has a poverty rate of at least 20%; OR
      (A) For a census tract in a metropolitan area, the tract’s median family income does not exceed 80% of the greater of: the metropolitan area median family income or the statewide median family income; or
      (B) For a census tract in a non-metropolitan area, the tract does not exceed 80% of the statewide median family income.

      So an area can be designated if the median income in that tract doesn’t exceed 80% of the states median income. That gives zero indication about the economic health of downtown which seems to be the point of your post. I live downtown and there is extraordinary development happening everywhere – projects that weren’t the slightest bit feasible 15 years ago are now happening in large numbers. This is a great opportunity to incentivize investment in downtown and our Governor did a great job in nominating tracts that serve to bolster the development that is already well under way. It’s a fantastic strategy for a rapidly developing, under-the-radar great city to live in.

    2. The NY Times just did a great expose about the Opportunity Zone tax break scam. In short, many affluent and economically healthy areas have been designated as “opportunity zones” for this giant tax give-away. Places like downtown Houston, the very trendy and pricey Design District in Miami, and trendy and booming neighborhoods in LA, Nashville, etc. Hell, even Manhattan has “opportunity zones” in neighborhoods that have seen luxury residential development and new office construction. So, the issue is not the economic health of downtown Indy, but rather that the whole “Opportunity Zone” tax break is one big scam that is nothing more than government welfare for rich developers.

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