How Can Impact Investors Make the Most of Opportunity Zones?

For nearly two decades, Barclay Grayson has served as senior vice president of BPM Real Estate Group in Portland, Oregon. Barclay Grayson handles divestiture, acquisition, and development projects in Portland and maintains a special interest in funding through programs like EB-5 and Opportunity Zones (OZs). Since 2018, the OZ program has grown quickly and now includes neighborhoods in all 50 states. OZs are economically distressed communities that receive preferential tax treatment to spur development.

Since OZs are a relatively new entity, the rules about them are still evolving. Already, some private or commercial entities are excluded from tax benefits, such as golf courses and country clubs, as they are not considered useful to a community. At the same time, the rules do not distinguish between luxury hotels and affordable housing units, so impact investors have a big responsibility to push for inclusive development.

OZs were created to drive development in areas that have been left behind, so investors always need to ask themselves what the impact of the investment will be. Investors focusing on investments that provide a meaningful advantage to the community are the ones that will make OZs successful and help promote the development of similar programs, which can be extremely beneficial for residents of those neighborhoods. Impact investors have a responsibility to lead investments that truly help elevate these communities.