Governor to offer five $100K grants to spur Opportunity Zone investment

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Anthony Foxx, a former U.S. secretary of transportation, discussed the prospects and expectations of the much-hyped federal Opportunity Zone program at the Choose New Jersey Opportunity Zone Summit last week in New Brunswick, as noted by ROI-NJ. According to InsiderNJ, Murphy spoke about the Garden State’s Economic Development Authority, the state’s Division of Community Affairs and plans by the state’s Redevelopment Authority to develop initiatives to facilitate Opportunity Zone investment. Altogether, New Jersey has identified 75 municipalities with a combined 169 sites eligible for Opportunity Zone incentives, at least half of which are located in the northern part of the state, as noted by The Real Deal in its recent Tri-State issue. Murphy said his administration will hand out five $100,000 grants to the municipalities that best create and showcase a successful strategy for Opportunity Zone investments. The Real Deal reported earlier this month on U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson stating his preference that certain grants be given to developments that include affordable housing. On March 19, Ron Beit, founding partner and CEO of Newark-based developer RBH Group, said that he would launch an investment fund that will partner with Opportunity Zone funds to build housing for teachers and undertake “other social impact-related projects” in cities across the country. Beit has been a supporter of the Opportunity Zone program, which was passed as part of the late 2017 federal tax overhaul. [ROI-NJ]