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by Justin Elliott and Jeff Ernsthausen

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The chair of the Senate Finance Committee is demanding information from several billionaire developers to determine whether they are abusing a Trump tax break that was supposed to benefit poor communities.

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Citing ProPublica’s reporting on the program, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent letters today to Jorge Perez of Related Group, Kushner Companies and several other developers asking for details on how they are taking advantage of what’s known as the opportunity zone program.

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The program, created in President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax overhaul, provides a series of tax breaks for making investments in swaths of specially designated land around the country. The program’s bipartisan advocates contended the program would funnel money into disadvantaged neighborhoods that were otherwise starved for investment.

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Under the program, investors receive tax advantages. Chief among them is that any gains on projects in the zones are tax-free after a number of years.

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But ProPublica and other news outlets found that investments often went to develop projects that benefit the affluent. In a series of stories in 2019, ProPublica reported that developers around the country had successfully lobbied to get favored tracts included in the opportunity zone program, at the expense of poorer areas. Several of those tracts were in well-off areas or were sites of long-planned projects that predated the tax break, suggesting that public subsidies could flow to projects that were going to happen regardless.

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Now Wyden is scrutinizing the tax benefit. “I have long been concerned that the Opportunity Zone program may permit wealthy investors another opportunity to avoid billions of dollars in taxes without meaningfully benefitting the distressed communities the program was intended to help,” Wyden wrote in the letter.

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Wyden’s letter zeroed in on one of the projects highlighted by ProPublica: an opportunity zone in West Palm Beach, Florida, that contains a superyacht marina owned by a major Republican political donor.

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“It appears that the Opportunity Zone program is already helping subsidize luxury real estate development by wealthy developers, and in many cases will allow these investors to realize the gains on their investments completely tax-free,” Wyden wrote. “Among the investments that have reportedly qualified for these generous tax breaks, are projects that include luxury apartment buildings and hotels, high-end office towers, self-storage facilities and a ‘superyacht marina.’”

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In his letter to Perez, head of a company developing the luxury condo project in the West Palm Beach zone, Wyden requested information on when the project was conceived; details of any lobbying of public officials on the opportunity zone issue; and numbers on job creation and tax benefits associated with the project.

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Asked for a response back in 2019, the West Palm Beach developers said they were not motivated to seek the tax break for their own benefit and hoped to spur additional economic development for the surrounding area.

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Wyden’s letters are designed to fill in details about how the program is unfolding. While some have called for its outright abolition, even supporters of the opportunity zone program have decried the lack of any reporting requirements that might allow experts to measure whether the tax breaks are achieving their stated goals.

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In 2019, Wyden introduced legislation that would increase reporting requirements for opportunity zone investors and curtail the kinds of projects that would qualify for tax breaks under the program. The legislation would also remove areas that were originally designated as opportunity zones that weren’t actually poor, including well-off areas of Detroit and Baltimore that ProPublica reported on that year.

St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley and North County Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration is now virtual.

St. Louis has the largest Bosnian population in the United States. Now leaders want to do the same thing with Afghan refugees. "Anyone from any corner of the earth can come to America and become an American," Mojda Sidiqi said, referencing a photo of herself at 9 years old. Born in Kabul, Sidiqi outlined her own experience immigrating from Afghanistan, as stakeholders — led by Arch Grants founder Jerry Schlichter — unveiled a new plan Wednesday to market St. Louis to current Afghan refugees…

Savoy plans to invest in upgrading the strip mall's dated look while weighing two new potential sites for development.

Fierceton, a 2016 Whitfield School grad, lost the honor after reports surfaced that she had provided ‘false narratives’ to get the scholarship.

Nine PBS, the nonprofit St. Louis-area affiliate of the Public Broadcasting Service, has named a new vice president and chief content officer, a role previously held by Amy Shaw, who is currently president and CEO of Nine PBS.

The diminutive burger joint is moving from its flagship location half a mile west on Cherokee Street.

When south St. Louis County shopping center Ronnie’s Plaza went on the market for the first time ever, Brentwood-based Savoy Properties jumped at the chance to own it and potentially add another adjacent development.

Schools are reporting widespread staffing issues because so many people are out sick. But so far, many districts have not moved back to online learning.

As the fog lifted even more, I sought out even taller buildings, and the Gateway Arch seemed like a good candidate. I also thought the river would be foggy, but no luck there. There was something surreal about the two… Continue Reading →

Sweetmeat with Bizzle during Blues victory

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2021 was another banner year for development in St. Louis. The pandemic didn’t slow things down, resulting in a record dollar amount of building permits issued surpassing 2018. In nominal terms at least. The 2018 amount adjusted by the Consumer Price Index (July 2018 to July 2021) would be $1.314B. The CPI doesn’t track construction […]

The post $1.3 Billion in Building Permits Issued in 2021 appeared first on NextSTL.

One case decided Tuesday involved a St. Louis child sex case and two others involved juveniles accused of crimes in Jackson County.

Police said a young girl who was taken from her daycare Wednesday afternoon has been sound safe

The Posh Nosh, Joanie’s To Go, Pizza Head, and Big Sky Cafe have new owners in place or pending, while The Crow’s Nest owners are transforming Nadine’s Gin Joint into The Crow Bar.

The Posh Nosh, Joanie’s To Go, and Pizza Head have new owners in place or pending, while The Crow’s Nest owners are transforming Nadine’s Gin Joint into The Crow Bar.

Police said the woman was walking toward the store on the 9200 block of West Main Street when an armed man walked up to her and demanded her purse.