Opportunity Zones
United States | May 31, 2023
Opportunity Zone investors bet $5 million on a Pennsylvania factory supporting the green building transition
ImpactAlpha, May 31 – In a previous career, John Wolfington redeveloped defunct factories and brownfield sites for residential and commercial use. Now, he’s …
Impact Investing | March 3, 2023
Skiing is believing: Overheard at the Sorenson Impact Summit
The powder was deep and so were the conversations at the ninth Sorenson Impact Summit, held this year at the Snowbird ski resort …
Montrose, Colorado
Opportunity Zones | February 23, 2023
From Alabama to Utah, rural Opportunity Zones attract private investors for local development (video)
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 23 – Opportunity Zones are bringing investors to the table in a place they’ve long avoided: rural America. The capital gains tax …
Koz on MLK before it opened (photo: Koz Development)
Inclusive Economy | February 23, 2023
Sorenson’s Catalyst Fund crafts real estate opportunities with public funds and impact strategies
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 23 – Decades ago, Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood descended into gang violence and disinvestment, driving longtime residents away. Now, remaining residents face …
Photo credit: Baltimore Public Markets Corp.
Place-Based Investing | December 1, 2022
Real estate developers in Baltimore test strategies for inclusive growth and community wealth
ImpactAlpha, December 1 – On the west side of downtown Baltimore, a $45 million rehabilitation of Lexington Market is turning the once-languishing food …
Photo credit: Yilun Cheng/MEDILL
Opportunity Zones | May 19, 2022
How Opportunity Zones can accelerate American Rescue Plan projects
American Rescue Plan, meet Opportunity Zones. Last year’s American Rescue Plan sent $350 billion in direct, flexible funding to state and local governments. …
Erie, Pennsylvania
Policy Corner | April 13, 2022
Keeping an eye on policymaking for impact investing
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 13 – From Opportunity Zones reform to SEC nominees, it’s been a busy few days on Capitol Hill for policy affecting impact …
Community Finance | January 15, 2022
Solar proves a pathway for private capital to flow into low-income communities
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 13 – The race is on to install solar panels, lay in chargers for electric vehicles and retrofit housing for energy …
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Photo credit: Brittanica.
Catalytic Capital | September 13, 2021
Arctaris launches $20 million Opportunity Zone vehicle for place-based community impact in Pittsburgh
ImpactAlpha, September 13 — Boston-based Arctaris Impact Investors partners with foundations, governments and other organizations to help revitalize local U.S. underserved communities, and …
Photo credit: Woodforest National Bank.
Locavesting | July 1, 2021
Workforce housing in Indianapolis demonstrates Opportunity Zone impact
ImpactAlpha, July 1 – More than 90% of the 188 units at The Westmont property in Indianapolis will go to low-income residents. The $31 …
Mason Music, a community-based music program at the newly renovated Woodlawn Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama | Photo credit: Mason Music
Opportunity Zones | April 29, 2021
Opportunity Alabama is combining community and capital to fulfill the potential of Opportunity Zones
ImpactAlpha, Apr. 29 – A senior-care facility in Heflin, Alabama, population 5,000. A restored hotel in Selma. Workforce housing and an historic theatre in …
Opportunity Zones | February 22, 2021
Opportunity Zones await makeover – and impact
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 22 – Tens of billions of dollars have been raised by opportunity funds. But most of the nearly 8,000 low-income opportunity …
Photo credit: Workforce Connect Manufacturing Sector Partnership
Policy Corner | January 28, 2021
Opportunity Zone deals flow as investors eye new rules
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 28 – The Trump administration touted Opportunity Zones among its policy achievements. President Biden is proposing changes to make them work …
Dealflow | December 17, 2020
EV infrastructure startup OBE Power raises $300,000 in Opportunity Zone funding
ImpactAlpha, December 17 — Lack of charging infrastructure is one of the biggest inhibitors to electric vehicle adoption in the U.S. Miami-based OBE …
Community Finance | November 17, 2020
Blueprint Local and LISC are using Opportunity Zones to bridge divisions, beginning in the Southeast
As we move beyond a difficult election cycle, it is time to focus on an ambitious community investment agenda that has a meaningful …
2030 Finance | November 11, 2020
North Sky Capital backs a California waste-to-fuel plant – in an Opportunity Zone
ImpactAlpha, November 11 – Sustainable infrastructure investor North Sky Capital is financing the development of a commercial-scale anaerobic digester to produce biogas from …
2030 Finance | November 4, 2020
Virginia-based Micronic Technologies raises $3 million to purify water on the spot
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 4 – Virginia-based Micronic Technologies raised $3 million for its water purification technology. The Center for Innovative Technology’s CIT GAP Funds and …
Impact Voices | October 13, 2020
Opportunity Zones can deliver social impact. We just have to measure it.
As the election nears, Opportunity Zones (OZs) have been thrust into the spotlight once again, with politicians on both sides of the aisle …
Photo credit: Doug Kerr
Dealflow | July 1, 2020
Arctaris commits $40 million to Erie Opportunity Zones
ImpactAlpha, July 1 – Arctaris Impact Investors has launched a $40 million Opportunity Zone initiative invest in projects to revitalize the downtown corridor in …
Entrepreneurship | June 30, 2020
Opportunity Zone capital flows to real estate but not to small businesses – or impact
ImpactAlpha, June 30 – When it was just a few well-connected plutocrats making headlines for questionable real estate projects, it was still possible …
Dealflow | February 4, 2020
Catalyst seeks to demonstrate positive impact with initial Opportunity Zone investments
ImpactAlpha, Feb. 4 – Affordable housing and startup space in South Central Los Angeles. A revitalized industrial area in downtown Salt Lake City. …
affordable-housing | January 27, 2020
Fifth Third Bank commits $100 million to impact-focused Opportunity Zone projects
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 27 – Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank will invest a capital gains windfall in affordable and workforce housing and other community development …
Creative Economy | January 15, 2020
Benefit Corp. Electric Playhouse raises $5 million for immersive entertainment in “third spaces”
ImpactAlpha, January 15 – Albuquerque-based Electric Playhouse is the latest creative economy upstart to seize on the growth of immersive experiences. Its first …
Features | January 9, 2020
Assessing community impact in Opportunity Zone projects
ImpactAlpha, Jan. 9 – The capital gains tax breaks available in the zones created, uh, opportunities that are both potentially transformative for low-income …
Inclusive Economy | January 6, 2020
Inclusiv raises $45 million Southern Equity Fund to support credit unions
ImpactAlpha, January 6 – Low-income credit unions deploy capital to households and businesses deemed by many commercial institutions as too “high risk.” Nonprofit …
Impact Voices | December 16, 2019
Opportunity Zone ‘catalysts’ are driving impact in America’s overlooked communities
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 16 – Bad actors are grabbing headlines. Opportunity Zone ‘catalysts’ are driving impact. The release of the Forbes OZ list of 20 …
Creative Economy | December 16, 2019
Local, inclusive and entrepreneurial: How stakeholders are taking back capitalism in 2020
ImpactAlpha, Dec. 16 – The people are rising up. Protests erupted this year in cities around the globe, sparked by price hikes and …
People ride bicycles along the street in Stockton, California, U.S., on Thursday, June 14, 2012. The city may have to decide next week whether to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection if talks with creditors that end on June 25 don't yield concessions. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Opportunity Zones | November 21, 2019
Local Opportunity Zone headlines tell a different story: They’re working
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 21 – It’s not surprising that politically well-connected bigshots would press for, and in some cases receive, special treatment for pet projects …
Opportunity Zones | November 7, 2019
Congressional Democrats push for fixes to Opportunity Zone tax incentive
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 8 – Congressional Democrats are pushing for fixes to the Opportunity Zone tax break. A bill from Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden would bolster reporting and …
Dealflow | November 7, 2019
Verte Opportunity Fund backs Galen Robotics in Baltimore Opportunity Zone
ImpactAlpha, Nov. 7 – Galen Robotics, maker of a less-invasive surgical robot, was lured from Silicon Valley to Pigtown, west of downtown Baltimore, by …
Entrepreneurship | October 29, 2019
Moving from community development to community wealth
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 29 – With inequality at an all-time high, cities are rethinking their decades-old approach to community revitalization. A “quiet revolution” is …
Entrepreneurship | October 24, 2019
Oakland’s community capitalists are modeling an inclusive economy
ImpactAlpha 24, 2019 – The New York Times columnist David Brooks wants to build a national movement of social fabric “weavers.” Oakland’s already …
Beats | October 17, 2019
Q&A with Rodney Foxworth: Redistributing wealth, democratizing power and shifting economic control for our Common Future
ImpactAlpha, Oct. 15 – The median wealth of African Americans is on track to drop to zero by 2050. The lack of progress on the …
Dealflow | September 17, 2019
Five cities join Rockefeller Foundation-backed Opportunity Zone ‘academy’
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 17 – Rockefeller Foundation wants to ensure Opportunity Zone investments in real estate and operating businesses deliver more than just tax-advantaged returns …
Impact Voices | September 4, 2019
Opportunity Zone skeptics and advocates can unite around mandatory impact reporting
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 4 – The Opportunity Zones’ conversation over the last few days (since the New York Times published this piece, which includes …
Inclusive Economy | September 3, 2019
The Opportunity Zones glass may not yet be half full, but it’s too early to call it empty
ImpactAlpha, Sept. 3 – No one should be surprised when the rich and powerful take advantage of a capital gains tax break. That makes …
Dealflow | August 28, 2019
Investments in ‘people and places’ start to demonstrate impact in Opportunity Zones
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 28 – Capital is finally flowing to projects in U.S. Opportunity Zones that promote inclusive development and community empowerment. In other words, …
Dealflow | July 16, 2019
Opportunity Zone Justice accelerates returning citizen entrepreneurs in Washington D.C.
ImpactAlpha, July 15 – Consulting firm 20 Degrees, which helps nonprofits and social enterprises diversify revenues, is helping stock D.C.’s Opportunity Zone investment pipeline …
Dealflow | July 12, 2019
Harvest Returns’ Opportunity Fund will focus exclusively on sustainable agriculture
ImpactAlpha, July 12 – Fort Worth-based Harvest Returns is seizing on the Opportunity Zones tax benefit passed in the 2017 tax legislation to spur …
Impact Management | June 26, 2019
How and why to measure the impact of investments in Opportunity Zones
ImpactAlpha, June 26 – A decade from now, how will we know if Opportunity Zones actually helped people? That question is on the minds …
Impact Management | June 13, 2019
Investors to Treasury: Collect our Opportunity Zone data
ImpactAlpha, June 13 – U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is said to believe that impact metrics will “kill” Opportunity Zones. Nearly 70 organizations and Opportunity …
Entrepreneurship | May 23, 2019
Empowering communities to take ownership of their own Opportunity Zones
ImpactAlpha, May 23 – A common thread throughout the Forbes Opportunity Zones Summit in Newark this week: Ensuring those living and working in Opportunity Zones …
Catalytic Capital | May 22, 2019
Rockefeller Foundation seeds city-level support for Opportunity Zones
ImpactAlpha, May 22 – The goal of the $5.5 million in funding from New York foundation is to help cities attract and deploy impact-oriented …
Dealflow | May 20, 2019
Catalyst launches $150 million impact-focused Opportunity Fund
ImpactAlpha, May 21 – Catalyst, an impact private equity firm founded by Utah entrepreneur Jim Sorenson, is looking to raise $150 million to invest in …
Dealflow | May 15, 2019
Impact Community Capital recycles affordable housing financing with Freddie Mac swaps
ImpactAlpha, May 15 — The San Francisco-based low-income housing lender is piloting a new structure to free capital to finance additional affordable units. Impact …