Sorenson Seeds $150M Fund for Opportunity Zones

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➤➤ Join the GlobeSt.com ADAPT: Opportunity Zones conference September 16-17 in Baltimore, MD The new national conference series is aimed at identifying Opportunity Zones across all property types and geographic regions. This first-of-its-kind event will educate, connect and celebrate the investors, developers and owners with the people behind the planning and decision-making, such as architects, consultants, academics and, most importantly, municipal officials. Also, be sure to take a look at our current adaptive reuse and opportunity zone nomination form and submit your project! Deadline is fast approaching June 7th. Click here to register and view the agenda.

(Bloomberg) Real estate moguls, banks and money managers are rushing to capitalize on a new U.S. tax break rewarding investments in poor communities. Now, one of the biggest names in impact investing is aiming to prove the perks are about more than profits.

Jim Sorenson, a prominent Utah entrepreneur, investor and businessman, plans to announce Monday that Catalyst, a private equity firm he helped found, is raising $150 million to invest in opportunity zones. The group’s first fund, which Sorenson is seeding with $10 million, will focus on developing real estate with an eye toward delivering both market-rate returns and measurable social good.

Sorenson was an early backer of the incentives tucked into the 2017 US tax overhaul. Since its passage, though, a debate has broken out about whether the benefits will turn out to be a handout to the wealthy. Nothing in the law requires investors to promote social good with their investments. Some of the more-than 8,700 zones selected are already on the upswing and attracting private capital.