Opportunity Zones

Webinar recap: the National Opportunity Zones Marketplace

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LOCUS & Smart Growth America recently launched the National Opportunity Zones Marketplace, an online resource to help facilitate equitable development and information sharing. It’s the latest evolution of our work to ensure that new investment in Opportunity Zones benefit existing residents the community at-large instead of displacing the people the tax incentive was intended to help. Watch the recorded webinar about how to use the Marketplace.

Economic development LOCUS Technical assistance

New Opportunity Zones Marketplace will help local leaders partner with developers to produce more equitable development

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Smart Growth America and its LOCUS coalition of responsible real estate investors & developers today launched the National Opportunity Zones Marketplace to equip the local governments, real estate developers and investors, and community leaders in 13 communities across the country to work together to make smart, equitable development possible in Opportunity Zones—and beyond.

LOCUS

Salem considers Opportunity Zones for new mixed-use and TOD development

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The proposed South Salem Commuter Rail Station has brought a lot of attention to an underutilized area of land in Salem, which also happens to be a designated Opportunity Zone. During the inaugural Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy, SGA provided the City with three different development scenarios to consider for the land use and zoning near the proposed station site.

LOCUS

Barnstable and Yarmouth aim to use Opportunity Zones to promote walkable urban form

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The towns of Barnstable and Yarmouth on Cape Cod worked with SGA’s Form-Based Codes Institute during the first-ever Massachusetts Opportunity Zones Academy to gain insight on how to take advantage of their designated Opportunity Zones to create a better sense of place within the two towns.

Form-Based Codes LOCUS Technical assistance

What did we learn from a half-year of work on Opportunity Zones with six communities?

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Throughout much of 2019, Smart Growth America’s LOCUS team worked hand-in-hand with six Massachusetts communities to harness Opportunity Zone investments to benefit rather than displace their residents, and result in walkable, mixed-use communities with a variety of employment and housing options for everyone. We spent a day earlier this month going overall we learned in a public event in Boston earlier this month.

LOCUS

Working to ensure that Opportunity Zones are a force for good in your community

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With the creation of a new national academy for Opportunity Zones, Smart Growth America and our LOCUS coalition of responsible real estate investors continue to be on the forefront of helping communities use this tax incentive as a force for equitable growth that’s mutually beneficial for both investors and most importantly the people who live and do business in them. 

Economic development LOCUS Technical assistance

The Rockefeller Foundation and Smart Growth America Launch National Opportunity Zones Academy

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Press Release
The Rockefeller Foundation and Smart Growth America today announced the launch of the National Opportunity Zones Academy, which will help cities drive sustainable growth in Opportunity Zones by attracting socially responsible investment. Five cities so far have been selected to participate: Chicago, Greater Miami and the Beaches, Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Norfolk, VA.

Economic development LOCUS