Opportunity Zone Funds: It's Complicated

Investing in an opportunity fund is more complicated than many financial advisors might realize even after the Treasury Department announced its second set of proposed regulations, which were just published in the Federal Register on Friday.

“When the law first came out I was really excited,” says Chris Cordaro, chief investment officer of RegentAtlantic, an RIA based in Morristown, New Jersey. “Everywhere we have clients with liquidity events or just capital gains in their portfolio.”

(Related: IRS Releases New Round of Regs for Opportunity Zone Funds)

Investors can defer that gain when they invest in an opportunity zone fund within 180 days, and the gain is reduced by 10% if the investment is held for five years and by 15% if held for seven years. 

The gains from the investment in an opportunity zone get even more favorable treatment. If the investment is held for 10 years, the gains are tax-free (They’re cut by 10% if held for five years and by 15% if held for seven years).

Those tax benefits “translate into real savings because if you hold the investment for 10 years and it’s a reasonable investment you’re saving somewhere between 2% and 3% a year,” Cordaro continues.

Opportunity Zone Requirements

“But when you dig deeper into the regulations you realize to qualify for the opportunity zone investment …,” Cordaro said, “you’ve got to … have a substantial increase in the basis, which everyone takes to be double the basis … So if you buy a building for $1 million — $250,000 was  for the land and $750,000 is for the building — you have to improve the building by $750,000. That’s the kicker.

“Now you’re asking a real estate developer to hold onto a property for 10 years. That’s not what they do. Developers develop a property and then sell it to a core portfolio. … It’s complicated, and you need a real estate investor that has both parts of that — does development and holds onto core portfolios. … That’s why it’s become difficult to find an investment that’s worthwhile.”

Cordaro did find one opportunity zone fund to invest in for a client but says he “kissed a lot of frogs” beforehand.

There are a growing number of opportunity zone funds being formed for investments throughout the U.S. — there are roughly 8,700 tracts designated as opportunity zones. Novogradac, a national accounting firm that emphasizes services for the real estate sector, lists 123 opportunity zone funds on its website representing more than $27 billion in community development investing capacity.

Most funds currently focus on real estate, but the latest proposed rules from the U.S. Treasury pave the way for investments in other businesses operating in the zones. They allow businesses to qualify for the 50% gross income requirement if half of the company’s employee hours or  wages are sourced in the zone or if its tangible property and management or operational functions performed in the zone are each necessary to generate 50% of its gross income.

“The second set of rules provides flexibility for the operating companies and will help bring jobs to the areas,” says Martin Muoto, founder and CEO of SoLa Impact Fund, which invests in the distressed neighborhoods in South Los Angeles and is raising funds for a $100 million opportunity zone fund that invests similarly.