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Capabilities / Opportunity Zones

Opportunity Zones

A multidisciplinary approach to Opportunity Zone benefits.

Husch Blackwell brings together experienced professionals from multiple industry groups and practice services to provide clients coordinated direction on the federal Opportunity Zones program.

Enacted in 2017 to drive economic development in targeted areas across the country, the Opportunity Zones program provides new tax benefits for taxpayers (including individuals, partnerships and corporations) that invest certain assets in certified Qualified Opportunity Funds.

Drawing on Husch Blackwell's role as one of the nation’s leading experts on tax-advantaged transactions, our Opportunity Zones attorneys leverage their knowledge of tax, finance, real estate, securities, and corporate law to advise clients such as investors, fund managers, and recipients of capital from Qualified Opportunity Funds.

Our guidance to clients in the Opportunity Zones sector includes:

  • Securities registration
  • Capital deployment
  • Asset disposition
  • Utilization of Opportunity Zones capital
  • Identification of target businesses
  • Due diligence
  • Layering of state/local incentives
  • Covenant compliance
  • Investor exits
  • Redeployment
Legal Updates | October 22, 2018
Five Key Insights From the Opportunity Zone Guidance

On October 19, the U.S. Treasury issued guidance regarding the Opportunity Zones program. 

Articles | August 15, 2018
Kansas City Business Journal: How Opportunity Zones provide needed capital for distressed communities

Ryan Brunton writes about the recently passed Investing in Opportunity Act.

Seminars | June 25, 2019
Opportunity Zones
Seminars | June 4, 2019
Opportunity Zones Discussion
Speaking Engagements | October 18 - 19, 2018
Speaker, Novogradac 2018 New Markets Tax Credit Fall Conference
News Releases | September 10, 2019
Husch Blackwell's Scott and Eckelkamp Named 2019 Up & Coming Lawyers

The annual Up & Coming awards “celebrate outstanding legal professionals who are 40 or younger or who are within their first 10 years of practice.

Media Mentions | February 2019
Governing: In the Zone
Media Mentions | November 28, 2018
REJournals: The legal loopholes of Opportunity Zones
Media Mentions | November 09, 2018
Bloomberg Law News: Opportunity Fund Rules Set Up Capital Gains Cash Trap (log-in required)

Rebecca Mitich discusses how banks might look at opportunity funds in this Bloomberg Law article.

Media Mentions | October 22, 2018
St. Louis Business Journal: Looking to lower capital gains? Good news, St. Louis lawyers say (log-in required)

Jonathan Giokas and Joe Bredehoft of the firm's Opportunity Zones team weigh in.on new Treasury Department and IRS rules governing how capital gains can be deployed to defer and reduce taxes.

Media Mentions | October 10, 2018
The Missouri Bar: MoveMakers & NewsMakers 10/12/18

The Missouri Bar covers the firm's Opportunity Zones practice.

News Releases | October 04, 2018
New Husch Blackwell Practice Group Focuses on Opportunity Zones

New practice group brings a multidisciplinary approach to assisting clients who wish to invest in the federal Opportunity Zones program.

Media Mentions | September 2018
InBusiness Madison: Breathing new life into Madison's most distressed areas

Thanks to a new economic development tool created under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Greater Madison could soon see some changes to some of the region’s most economically challenged areas.

Media Mentions | September 12, 2018
Wisconsin Law Journal Names Eisenmann and Vercauteren to 2018 ‘Up and Coming' List

Erik Eisenmann and Jeff Vercauteren represent Husch Blackwell on a list recognizing the rising stars of Wisconsin’s legal community.