Poor New York City neighborhoods a big lure for Opportunity Zone Fund investors

One of the top entrepreneurs leading the Opportunity Zone gamut is Jim White, PhD, Founder and CEO of Scottsdale, AZ based PHT Opportunity Fund LP. Author of the forthcoming book released on March 31, 2020, Opportunity Investing: How to Revitalize Urban and Rural Communities with Opportunity Funds, White and his company will designate $250 million of new investments into struggling communities, including New York City.

Jim White’s team at PHT Opportunity Fund LP invests in technology, innovations, startups, and other assets in a variety of industries. PHT Opportunity Fund provides investors with disruptive strategies and trusted guidance, as well as long-term, sustainable growth to QOZ communities and companies. Learn more about PHT Opportunity Fund here.

New York City

New York City holds 306 Qualified Opportunity Zones, or low-income neighborhoods that investors are spilling money into to improve healthcare, housing and education – all in exchange for a hefty tax break. An incentive allowed by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), investors across the country are considering the potential of creating thousands of jobs, creating infrastructure and beautifying economically distressed communities in New York’s poorest neighborhoods.

“Without a doubt, my guess is that there are billions of dollars of investments that could be made in New York,” said White in Sunday’s New York Post article on NYC Opportunity Zone Investing. “We are very excited about New York,” said White after opening an office in Greenwich, CT, “there is so much opportunity waiting to be tapped.”

Opportunity Zones are proving to be a popular approach for investors that are interested in rolling their capital gains while remaining socially conscious. And for those doubters who criticized Opportunity Funds early on for gentrifying neighborhoods instead of improving them for long-time residents, White negates these claims – asserting, “Many of the early investors were opportunistic. The program has moved on from that to serve its purpose.”