HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10348 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10348
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 10, 2019
Page 1 of 3
i
i7 Y
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CITY OF FORT WORTH OPPORTUNITY ZONES
r6 rn
Yg7'3
On March 6, 2018, staff provided an informal report on the opportunity zone program and the
selected tracts sent to the Governor's office for official designation. As part of the federal Tax
Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 signed into law on December 22, 2017, the United States Congress
established a new community development program to encourage long-term investments in low-
income urban and rural communities nationwide. The Opportunity Zones program provides a
federal tax incentive for investors to re-invest their unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds
that are dedicated to investing into Opportunity Zones designated by the governor of every U.S.
state and territory.
Opportunity Funds are private sector investment vehicles that invest at least 90 percent of their
capital in Opportunity Zones. U.S. investors currently hold trillions of dollars in unrealized capital
gainsin stocks and mutual funds alone—a significant untapped resource for economic
development. Opportunity Funds provide investors the chance to put that money to work
rebuilding the nation's left-behind communities. The fund model enables a broad array of
investors to pool their resources in Opportunity Zones, increasing the scale of investments going
to underserved areas.
To establish one or multiple Opportunity Zones, the governor of each state had to formally
designate the nominated set of Census tracts no later than March 21, 2018. No more than 25% of
the Low Income Community Census tracts in each state could be designated as an Opportunity
Zone. Recognizing the competitive nature of the nomination process and the expectation that
communities throughout Texas will be submitting their own nominations for Census tracts within
their community, staff selected what it believed to be a reasonable and competitive number of
eligible Fort Worth Census tracts that would maximize the strategic and economic impact of the
Opportunity Zone once established.
City of Fort Worth staff (representing the Economic Development, Neighborhood Services, and
Planning and Development departments) identified 19 out of the 105 eligible census tracts
located within the City for submission as an opportunity zone. Together, the recommended
census tracts represent 20.7% of the Low Income Community Census tracts located in the City of
Fort Worth and 5.6% of eligible Contiguous Census tracts. The census tracts were chosen with
the following primary considerations in mind:
1) Area's ability to support specific objectives within the City's Economic Development Strategy,
2) Area's compatibility with the City's Comprehensive Plan, and
3) 25% statewide cap on the number of eligible census tracts designated by the Governor
Many other factors were included in the recommendation, such the area's attractiveness for near-
term private investment, transit-oriented development and the capacity to support new
development and commercial activity.
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10348
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 10, 2019
Page 2 of 3
i
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CITY OF FORT WORTH OPPORTUNITY ZONES
r rn
Yg73
Recommended Fort Worth Opportunity Zones
' 26 21
f
26
i
1
I
i
60
0
Census Tract Opportunity Zone Eligibility
Selecled Tract-Contiguous
Selected Tract-LIC
\� Eligible Tract-Cont9uous
g 1 2 4MileeEb9lble Tracl-LIC
NORTH �
On March 7, 2018, Staff submitted a letter to the Governor's Office to support the designation of
the nominated Fort Worth Census Tracts as an Opportunity Zone. In April 1, 2018, Staff received
notification on the tracts that had been selected by the Governor's Office. Of the 19 tracts
submitted, 3 tracts were selected for designation. The State also designated 3 additional tracts
that were not submitted by Staff for designation as an Opportunity Zone. These 3 additional
tracts, while eligible on the basis of income, are predominantly built-out residential neighborhoods
and provide little opportunity for catalytic development. The tracts that were selected for
designation include:
1. Meacham Airport / Stockyards area (OZ FW-1)
2. Fort Worth Stockyards / Northside (OZ FW-2)
3. Stockyards TOD / Diamond Hills (OZ FW-3)
4. Medical Innovation District / Hillside-Morningside (OZ FW-4)
5. Cobb Park (OZ FW-5)
6. East Berry / Edgewood (OZ FW-6)
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS
INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 10348
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council December 10, 2019
Page 3 of 3
i
i7 Y
SUBJECT: UPDATE ON CITY OF FORT WORTH OPPORTUNITY ZONES
r61rJAL
Yg7'3
Designated Fort Worth Opportunity Zones
114
iJ 111
V
The process that the State used in deciding which tracts to designate as an Opportunity Zone has
not been provided to nominating communities and Staff has been notified that there is no ability to
change or modify the Zones that were ultimately selected for designation. Since the designation
of the Opportunity Zones, Staff has developed a prospectus for the program which can be found
at http://fortworthtexas.gov/EcoDev/opportunity-zones/ and have promoted the Zones with our
partners at the Chambers of Commerce and the real estate community. If you have any questions
concerning this information, please contact Robert Sturns, Economic Development Director at
817-392-2663 or robert.sturns@fortworthtexas.gov.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS