Lisa Knee Gives High-Level View of QOFs on Bloomberg Radio

EisnerAmper’s Real Estate Practice Co-Leader Lisa Knee gave Bloomberg Radio hosts Lisa Abramowicz and Paul Sweeney an overview of the hottest topic in real estate: Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs). This IRS program gives real estate developers tax incentives for investing in impoverished neighborhoods. The incentives are realized through deferred, reduced and eliminated gains. Knee noted that there are $6 trillion in unrealized gains out there available for approximately 8,700 impoverished opportunity zones.

Knee indicated that an important distinction is that these QOFs would be equity investments, not debt. She’s seen investment in a variety of properties such as multi-family, hotels, commercial, and multi-use industrial parks. She added that developers have gotten creative with these spaces, designing properties that uniquely complement the community.

When asked how much money is expected to flow into these zones, Knee responded that investors are waiting for a second set of rules from the IRS. She commented, in a most hopeful tone, that the first set of IRS rules were very investor friendly. So, stay tuned.