Opportunity Zone to be established

Painesville is encouraging local investment by establishing an expansive Opportunity Zone throughout the city.

The designated areas will include properties where interested parties can reinvest unrealized capital gains into Opportunity Funds, which allow for tax incentives.

Opportunity Zones were designed to encourage long-term investments in low-income urban and rural communities as part of the U.S. Congress’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Working along the Lake County

Ohio Port & Economic Development Authority, Painesville has included multiple project areas in their Opportunity Zone. Among these are Veteran’s Square, civic and office districts, the Main Street retail district, High Pointe Centre residential district, Richmond and Erie Street retail corridor, and Lake Erie College property.

“Opportunity Zones, with the right partnerships, can greatly benefit both the community and potential investors,” said Painesville Economic Development Director Cathy Bieterman. “Not only does it help revitalize the city and restore pride in community members, investors would be able to take advantage of these important tax incentives.

“If we can couple this tax incentive with the new market tax credits, historic tax credits, our EPA grant funds and some of

our customizable incentives, we feel that we can bring great value to potential investment partners that are considering these new Opportunity Zones.”

Bieterman anticipates working closely with investors.

“The city in preparation has completed environmental assessments on several of their sites, had architectural renderings complete with potential concept and site plans,” she said. “We are working to ensure that we have the necessary market data, research, incentives and master planning in place to support any private investments being considered within our Opportunity Zone.”

Those who choose to reinvest capital gains into an Opportunity Zone will benefit by deferring, reducing, and eliminating taxable capital gains, according to a presentation delivered to city officials by the Opportunity Zone Development Group.

Investments must be made before Dec. 31 of this

year in order to qualify for the full 10-year benefits of the Opportunity Zone due to applicable tax schedules.

The City’s communication coordinator Kathleen Sullivan spoke on what Painesville hopes to house within their Opportunity Zone. “We are looking to attract restaurants, stores and services in the downtown area, which is something we heard a lot of feedback about in our rebranding survey this past fall, especially from our large millennial population.

She adds, “They want to be able to play and shop in the downtown and have some night life options. The city is looking to spur pedestrian activity in that downtown/opportunity zone district, while maintaining the historic charm of the buildings already in the community.”

To learn more about the Opportunity Zone, contact Painesville’s Economic Development Office at 440-392-5795 or cbieterman@painesville.com.