{"id":1004285504,"date":"2018-12-13T01:26:45","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T09:26:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004285504"},"modified":"2022-12-08T23:43:01","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T07:43:01","slug":"understanding-the-council-to-oversee-opportunity-zones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/understanding-the-council-to-oversee-opportunity-zones\/","title":{"rendered":"Sizing Up Trump’s Opportunity Zone Council"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Gail Kalinoski<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a>

Paul Gevertzman, tax partners, Anchin (Image courtesy of Anchin)<\/p><\/div>\n

Commercial real estate tax experts said on Wednesday that they were encouraged by President Trump\u2019s executive order establishing a council to oversee implementation of the opportunity zones<\/a> created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. However, they still had some concerns about how the program would be regulated by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains to be seen what impact, if any, this new council will have on Qualified Opportunity Zone development projects. I would hope that it would be within their purview to make recommendations to Treasury regarding some of the technical hurdles that have been delaying many funds and projects from physically launching,\u201d <\/em>Paul Gevertzman, a tax partner at Anchin and leader of Anchin\u2019s Economic Opportunity Zones Group & co-practice leader for Anchin\u2019s Tax Credits & Incentives Group, told Commercial Property Executive<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>

Dave Borsos, vice president of capital markets, NMHC (Image courtesy of NMHC)<\/p><\/div>\n

Gevertzman\u2019s comments came after President Trump named Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson to chair the new group\u2014the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. The council will include representatives of 12 additional federal agencies, including the Treasury, Agriculture, Labor, Commerce, and Transportation departments, the Small Business Administration and Office of Management and Budget. The group\u2019s mission will be to engage with all levels of government on ways to better use taxpayer dollars to revitalize low-income communities through the Opportunity Zone program. It is expected to encourage at least $100 billion in private investments in nearly 9,000 communities around the United States, District of Columbia and five U.S. territories by providing tax incentives to invest in the Opportunity Zones and hold onto the assets for five to 10 years.<\/p>\n

Gevertzman said he expects real estate and construction participation in the program to grow throughout 2019, \u201cbased solely on the unprecedented amount of interest we are seeing by both investors and developers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Multifamily industry concerns<\/h2>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very excited the administration is taking the opportunity zone program and running with it and investing the institutional resources it needs to be a success,\u201d<\/em> said Matthew Berger, vice president of tax, at the National Multifamily Housing Council. \u201cIt has the capacity to drive a lot of multifamily production in economically distressed areas.\u201d <\/em>But Berger and Dave Borsos, vice president of capital markets at NMHC, said they want the Treasury Department and the IRS to provide regular guidance that would let the opportunity zone legislation \u201cmeet its full potential.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Matthew<\/a>

Matthew Berger, vice president of tax, NMHC (Image courtesy of NMHC)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cAs the language gets clearer, we will see more activity,\u201d<\/em> Borsos said. Berger and Borsos are among NMHC and National Apartment Association (NAA) representatives working with the Treasury Department<\/a> over the past few months to make the program as effective as possible. Some guidance was issued in October<\/a> and another round is expected before the end of the year.  Last week, the NMHC and NAA sent a letter to the IRS and Treasury Department outlining some technical issues Borsos and Berger said weren\u2019t addressed in the first round of guidance. Among the NMHC and NAA\u2019s recommendations were:<\/p>\n