Opportunity Zones Drive Community Investment

Opportunity Zones Drive Community Investment

Secretary Turner moderated a panel discussion with Alfonso Costa, Jr., Jill Homan, and Ja'Ron Smith to explore the potential of the Opportunity Zones program.

The 2025 Innovative Housing Showcase convened national housing leaders, policymakers, and private-sector innovators at the National Mall to explore tools for expanding the nation's housing supply and accessing private capital to revitalize underserved communities. In one panel, "A Revitalization Story: Housing and Opportunity Zones," HUD Secretary Scott Turner gathered experts and leaders from the public and private sectors to discuss how the Opportunity Zones program is driving long-term growth across America.

Strong Leadership Paves the Way

In his opening remarks, Secretary Turner explained that Opportunity Zones channel private capital into disinvested places. Opportunity Zones, he noted, are "not just about buildings, but they are about people," highlighting the program's long-term community development framework, which is anchored in access to capital and economic mobility. The program's latest expansion under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act makes Opportunity Zones permanent. Turner said the expanded program is expected to unlock an estimated $100 billion in new investment and more than 1 million jobs across distressed rural, urban, and Tribal communities.

Turner shared a video message from President Trump, who underscored his administration's belief that affordable homeownership "is a fundamental part of the American dream, and we're working every day to make that dream a reality for millions and millions of Americans." His message emphasized revitalization through innovation, investment, and deregulation. "Together," he said, "we can put millions more American families in a home of their very own."

Former HUD Secretary Ben Carson also delivered opening remarks, reflecting on the origins of the Opportunity Zone program and its impact. He asserted that Opportunity Zones mobilized $75 billion in private investment in 2 years before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which, he further claimed, surpassed initial expectations and demonstrated the level of demand for community-focused investment. He credited strong leadership within HUD for what he characterized as the program's success and offered a summary of what he saw as the program's core philosophy: "There's a lot more money in the private sector than there is in the government, but the government can incentivize the use of that money in the solutions to [housing challenges]."

A Permanent Opportunity

Panelists discussed the impacts of the Opportunity Zones program. Alfonso Costa, Jr., chief operating officer of the Falcone Group, pointed to Opportunity Zone developments that integrate housing, employment, and mobility. Costa highlighted several case studies that illustrate the impact of Opportunity Zone investment in transit and mixed-use projects. In Baltimore, the redevelopment of Penn Station, supported by Blueprint Local and Amtrak, integrates retail, commercial, and transportation assets to revitalize a historic corridor. In Atlanta, the 50-acre Centennial Yards project is transforming a once-underutilized downtown district into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood with affordable housing and easy access to MARTA stations. These projects, he explained, demonstrate how long-term equity capital paired with local infrastructure investments can reposition underutilized sites for residential and commercial use. 

Speaking from her perspective as investor and developer, Jill Homan, deputy director for economy and trade at the America First Policy Institute, detailed how Opportunity Zone incentives make difficult projects feasible in markets with high land and construction costs. Homan described how the program can reduce capital costs, enable longer-term underwriting horizons, and complement other sources of equity, such as low-income housing tax credits and new markets tax credits, to support projects. She added that the program also allows for modular construction and other innovative building methods to further reduce development time and costs in constrained markets. 

Tailoring Opportunity Zones to Local Needs

Panelists discussed expansions to the Opportunity Zones program introduced through the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which brings new clarity and stability to the program by enshrining it in the tax code. Governors will have until mid-2026 to designate new census tracts for certification by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, allowing communities to refine their local strategies based on lessons from the first round. The Act also lowers income thresholds for eligible zones, ensuring that investment focuses even more tightly on areas of greatest need.

The Act also triples the tax benefits and reduced improvement thresholds available to investors in rural areas, recognizing the distinct economic realities of small towns and tribal lands. Homan underscored the benefits of the updated legislation for rural communities, acknowledging that dollars can stretch further in smaller markets. This approach, she explained, strengthens the pipeline for workforce housing, broadband deployment, healthcare facilities, and other critical infrastructure in communities that historically lack access to private capital. "This dual focus of attracting capital and jobs in rural opportunity zones as well as in our traditional opportunity zones will really enable this tax incentive to have [a] significant impact," she said.

Ja'Ron Smith, a partner at CGCN, highlighted the importance of local strategy and vision in bringing Opportunity Zone projects to fruition. He emphasized that Opportunity Zone investments succeed when community leaders, anchor institutions, and developers work together to build readiness and ensure that projects align with local needs. Smith cited Birmingham, Alabama, as an example of collaboration between local and state officials across party lines to align zoning, infrastructure, and business recruitment. "You've got to have a game plan," Smith said, noting that a clear prospectus helps communities attract high-impact housing and commercial investment.

Preparing for the Future

Smith encouraged policymakers and practitioners to stay persistent and innovative as Opportunity Zones advance into their next phase, noting that economic development to address income disparity is "not a one-stop shop" but instead requires long-term commitment to expanding opportunity. Costa echoed this theme, urging community leaders to prepare now for the next round of zone designations and to coordinate early with state and nonprofit partners. He also noted that HUD can continue to support the Opportunity Zones program by lowering application fees for multifamily mortgage applicants and prioritizing projects in census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones.

Throughout the panel, Secretary Turner affirmed HUD's commitment to supporting Opportunity Zone communities and ensuring that revitalization strategies remain centered on people. With federal permanency, strengthened investment incentives, and lessons learned from early implementation, Opportunity Zones stand positioned to continue unlocking American innovation, expanding homeownership, and accelerating economic mobility in historically underserved places.