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Already, a policy debate is raging. Backers are urging people to reserve judgment and say
the tax breaks have galvanized cities, businesses and investors to think creatively about
boosting parts of the country most in need. Critics say the incentives were poorly
calibrated and may amount to a boondoggle far in excess of the official $1.6 billion
projected cost.

Americans may have to wait months or years to learn which side is right. That’s because
the law doesn’t require investors to disclose projects, making it difficult to tell which areas
are benefiting the most.

But there’s plenty of evidence that a boom is brewing. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which
already had an investment team focusing on struggling communities, has disclosed about
$150 million in projects in recent months. Purchases of sites inside opportunity zones
spiked as the tax law took effect, outpacing growth in other areas, according to Real
Capital Analytics, which tracks property sales. Altogether, investors spent 62 percent more
on properties eligible for tax breaks in the 12 months through September, compared with
those in the same census tracts a year earlier, its data show.

Here are snapshots of what’s happening across America:

Bronx Boost

Port Morris Distillery, which makes a high-alcohol rum called pitorro, was the perfect spot
for an opportunity zone pitch. It’s on a block with a colorful mural, industrial buildings
ready for loft conversions and views of the Manhattan skyline. Much of the surrounding
South Bronx is now an opportunity zone.

“We have always been the most ignored,” Marlene Cintron, the borough’s head of
economic development, told an audience of developers and lawyers in November. “These
opportunity zones are here for you to take advantage of them.”

The case for the Bronx, where incomes are among the lowest in New York, is that it’s the
last borough awaiting revitalization. The tax incentives are designed to unleash it. If
developers can buy at current Bronx prices, before seeing a Brooklyn-like rise, the breaks
would be massive.

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