The original Opportunity Zone program drove more than $100B into real estate and business investment, but it also faced criticism it missed its mark, failing to spur development in the areas that needed it most.
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act just made OZs permanent and it aims to fix all that, tightening the rules on what areas may be designated OZs, lowering the area median income threshold and heavily incentivizing rural development.
On this week’s First Draft Live, Steve Glickman — co-author of the original OZ program and CEO of Statt — said OZs have been a wild success, especially at spurring much-needed housing.
“You’re talking bang for the buck that’s unparalleled,” he said.
Glickman said the new rules will make OZ 2.0 even better, though how much it drives rural development all comes down to designating sites at “the nexus between need and investability.”
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