Opportunity Zones (OZs) are low-income census tracts, which investors can make qualifying investments into new projects and enterprises in exchange for federal capital gains tax reductions. Since they were first established as a pilot program in 2017, OZs have encouraged investors to invest in new housing and other real estate projects across the country, including in Ohio.
In summer 2025, Opportunity Zones were established as a permanent federal program, requiring states to redesignate qualified census tracts as OZs. Earlier this month, GOPC held a webinar with the Ohio Department of Development (ODOD) to highlight the state’s nomination process, which ends July 10th at 5pm. Local governments, economic development entities, and others are welcome to submit nominations for eligible census tracts that ODOD and the Governor’s Office will review before submitting the state’s census tracts to US Treasury for certification. Following certification, the tracts will be eligible for tax benefits starting January 1, 2027 through December 31, 2036.
To view the recording of that webinar and the slide deck, visit GOPC’s Webinars page.
While the nomination and designation process unfolds, communities can still start preparing for how to attract an investment – should their eligible census tracts be designated.
Opportunity Zones are another tool in the toolbox for incentivizing investment in economic development projects, and typically will be stacked with other financial incentives. Ideally, an OZ will be designated for a census tract that fits into the priorities of the local leaders, and where investment is already occurring. Starting the conversations now with local stakeholders can help local communities identify priorities for what type of investment you want to see.
Many groups, including GOPC, have published resources for local leaders to utilize as they plan to tap into Ozs. For instance, the Economic Innovation Group has resources and a guide book to help Governors and Mayors think about OZs. Some cities established “look books” for the first round of OZs to provide a snapshot of their amenities, share the community priorities, and attract investors to invest in projects in their designated OZs. Erie, PA has a great resource to review. While communities do not know if their census tracts will make the cut, starting the process of creating a prospectus can be a great step forward.
GOPC will regularly update our Opportunity Zones page as new developments in the program occur, and we encourage local communities to use this as a resource as you think about the next step of the program – attracting investment and taking advantage of the program.