RELEASE: APRIL 24, 2018As discussed in our prior blog, “Pennsylvania’s ‘Opportunity’ to Create Opportunity Zones“, Governor Wolf, on April 20, 2018, announced that his administration designated 300 census tracts across the Commonwealth as “Opportunity Zones” under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“Act”). The zones designated by the Governor include areas in Allentown, Bethlehem, and Easton and portions of Stroudsburg and Reading in the counties that neighbor the Lehigh Valley. While Opportunity Zones allow investors with current capital gains tax liabilities to receive favorable tax treatment in exchange for investing in Opportunity Zones, they also provide significant potential benefits to the community, including: Promotion of the economic vitality of urban and rural areas of the State that were overlooked as part of the economic recovery enjoyed by other parts of Pennsylvania Funding of the development of workforce and affordable housing in areas with escalating prices and inventory shortages Funding of new infrastructure to support population and economic growth Investment in startup businesses with the potential for rapid increases in scale and the ability to “export” outside of Pennsylvania Upgrading existing underutilized assets through capital improvement investmentsClearly, this is an exciting and hopeful time for large portions of Pennsylvania, including the Lehigh Valley and neighboring areas.Attorney Jack Gross regularly counsels clients with holdings that range from large and diverse real estate portfolios to individual investors.Attorney Kim Spotts-Kimmel has experience with business formation, purchases, sales, mergers, and acquisitions, as well as general corporate matters and tax planning.