In a recent episode of The Opportunity Zones Podcast titled “Rural Opportunity Zone Strategies and Incentive Stacking Under,” VF Law Opportunity Zone Attorney Coni S. Rathbone joins host Jimmy Atkinson to discuss how developers and investors can strategically stack federal, state, and local incentives under Opportunity Zones 2.0 to dramatically improve project returns in rural markets. Rathbone highlights that with new rural benefits, including the 30% basis step-up and a reduced substantial improvement threshold, rural Opportunity Zones may finally attract the level of capital investment Congress originally intended.
The conversation also features a real-world case study of a 1,200-acre rural OZ project in Burns, Oregon, and covers how developers can actively influence the OZ 2.0 tract nomination process, eliminate depreciation recapture within an Opportunity Zone fund, and why the permanence of the program fundamentally shifts both CPA behavior and investor psychology. For developers, fund managers, commercial brokers, CPAs, and investors looking to gain a competitive edge in Opportunity Zones 2.0, this episode delivers a clear and actionable rural OZ playbook.
Listen to the full episode here.