Investing in communities across America via @BlueprintLocal. Previously cofounder @villagecapital; author of The Innovation Blind Spot; Big fan of @UVA @Braves.
Purcellville, VA
Joined February 2009
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If you care about affordable housing and community investment in America-please RT, quote tweet, share. The latest Senate bill for Opportunity Zones is ok, but the “dead zone” issue below in particular will freeze or kill billions of dollars of progress. One simple date fix will make it great. Please make it happen!
We are so excited to work with @damonhemmerding! If you want to know what's going on in real estate, community development, or even macro-hot takes, please read Damon's "welcome post" here: topophilia.substack.com/p/5-…
I am so excited to join Blueprint Local’s advisory board. Blueprint invested in Camp North End’s Kinship multifamily project, and I have developed a tremendous respect for @rossbaird and his team. Supporting their efforts to build housing throughout the US’s opportunity zones will be rewarding
The article in Ross’s post includes a few lessons I have learned about developing with OZ Capital. I’ll mention just one here, and hope you’ll click through if you’re interested in the others.
Do not deliver into a supply bubble, and do not deliver into a cap rate expansion. Of course, none of us plans to do that, but future supply is opaque and the house always wins if you bet on interest rates at a specific time 3 years in the future. Time is the hedge, and Opportunity Zones force the developer to let the building mature.
Ross Baird retweeted
Listen as our More Than Profit guest for Episode 84, Ross Baird, shares how incentivizing long-term investment has helped the Opportunity Zone program produce profound results in bridging the housing shortage: accessventures.org/podcast/m…
Ross Baird retweeted
Congress may freeze 🧊 billions in investment for America's poorest communities with an unintentionally badly timed Opportunity Zones update.
A four-word fix could unlock it all.
Here's the breakdown and why this matters now. ↓
How Opportunity Zones work: Investors get tax incentives to fund distressed communities. You need realized capital gains to participate. The benefits? Defer your current tax bill AND pay zero tax on gains from new investments. Win/Win
Where the freeze 🧊 comes from: Current program ends December 2026 with zero deferral benefits. New program starts January 2027 with a 5-year deferral. So investors in 2026 get nothing while 2027 investors get five years of tax breaks. Obviously, everyone waits.
The four-word fix: Make it effective "upon enactment." Give 2025 and 2026 investors the same 5-year deferral. Money flows immediately instead of hibernating until 2027.
The political own-goal: Congress won't see additional OZ groundbreakings before the 2028 Presidential Election. Zero wins to show voters in distressed communities.
What can be delivered: Immediate housing starts and construction jobs in the communities that need them most. Headlines lawmakers can tout in 2026, not 2029.
Your move, Congress.
Tag your Senator if you want shovels in the ground before the next election.
Ross Baird retweeted
Opportunity Zones are critical to fuel growth in small towns and rural communities across the country. @SenateGOP must protect this program in #OBBB – a simple fix can prevent an 18-month dead zone in much-needed investments. @LeaderJohnThune @MikeCrapo
eig.org/eig-commends-progres…
Ross Baird retweeted
If Congress wants to see the fruits of the OZ program while they are still in office (before 2028) then they will make the new OZ legislation effective as soon as the bill passes
John breaks it all down in this thread
OZ can go from good ---> great with some very small changes
Ross Baird retweeted
The good news is that both of these changes can be fixed very easily -- no extensive rewrites required.
And if they do, it will result in a truly great permanent OZ provision, but the window is closing very fast. Here's EIG's full statement. /end
eig.org/eig-commends-progres…
Ross Baird retweeted
I can't stress this enough: delaying the effective date will freeze OZ investment. Current projects that are not fully capitalized will be in jeopardy. Funds will be unable to raise. Communities will be left in limbo. This is far and away the top concern I hear about from stakeholders around the country.
5/
If you can fix one date -the effective date @LettieriDC outlines- you can unlock billions in investment at no taxpayer cost. Please get it done! @SecretaryTurner @LeaderJohnThune @MikeCrapo @SenatorTimScott
Ross Baird retweeted
In this episode, Ross Baird of Blueprint Local joins Bryce to dig into the evolution of Opportunity Zones, the lessons Ross has learned investing over $200 million in underinvested communities, and what’s next as Congress considers expanding this program.
Big news for communities across America:
Yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee released its draft bill to extend the Opportunity Zones program. And the best part? It makes the program permanent.
That’s huge.
As I wrote in The Hill, Opportunity Zones have attracted more private investment into overlooked places than any program in U.S. history.
thehill.com/opinion/5352006-…
The biggest impact? Housing.
Opportunity Zones cover just 10% of the country—but they account for 23% of all new housing being built right now.
The Senate bill is a good step forward. With a few tweaks, it could be even better. I'd love to see:
-Fixes to the “dead zone” that could unlock $50B in the next 18 months. This is a bit of inside baseball, but changing just one date in the legislation could unlock significantly more capital-at little to no cost to the taxpayer.
-More flexible rules to allow ordinary income, not just capital gains, to be invested, and people who make money from these projects to more easily recycle them into new Opportunity Zone projects if they want to keep their capital in distressed communities
-Tools like “fund of funds” to help small businesses and early-stage ventures
This is real momentum. Let’s make it count.
My take in The Hill: America needs 7M more homes. Opportunity Zones are helping close that gap- with private capital, not massive subsidies.
They’ve built 313K homes, at 1/10th the cost of other programs.
Let's expand what's working:
thehill.com/opinion/5352006-…
The NYT called Opportunity Zones a failure. Here's what they missed: OZs helped build 312,000+ homes at just $26K/unit in taxpayer cost, vs up to $1M/unit for other programs. $89B in private capital has flowed into places long left behind. The data shows they're working.
Opportunity Zones are building housing faster, cheaper, and where it's needed most—313K units at just $26K per unit. Awesome data from @InnovateEconomy and a call to action to double down.
In the midst of the U.S. housing crisis, one federal policy represents a quiet revolution.
New EIG research finds that the Opportunity Zones incentive has roughly doubled the housing supply in participating low-income communities.
Read more here: eig.org/opportunity-zones-ho…
This proposed tweak for Opportunity Zones would make a huge difference for the everyday man and woman who wants to invest in their community. I've seen this barrier over and over again
A barber in a low-income census tract saves for decades to buy land and build his own shop. When he finally sells, he faces hefty taxes on his gains.
Meanwhile, if a wealthy investor had purchased that same building using Opportunity Zone benefits, they’d pay zero taxes on the appreciation.
Does that feel right?
The current Opportunity Zone rules effectively penalize local entrepreneurs who build and operate businesses in low-income areas while rewarding those who simply invest capital gains into the same properties.
It’s time to expand Opportunity Zone benefits beyond just those with capital gains.
There is a window now with OZ 2.0 to far surpass the $100B that has gone into the program over the past 7 years.
This one tweak will:
1. Include local entrepreneurs who’ve invested their lives in these communities—not just their money.
2. Open OZs to all taxpayers and unleash a massive wave of investment from previously untapped sources: small business owners, savers, and everyday Americans committed to building wealth in underserved areas.
What’s your take—should Opportunity Zones be open to all taxpayers?
Check out this outstanding summary of the next generation of Opportunity Zones from our great partner Barrett
This is awesome. Our partners at @campnorthend are pioneering "live-work" units-where business owners can both live on site and open their businesses on a ground floor. Great way to build community. Project hasn't even opened and they are all leased!
"Of course, it wouldn’t be on brand if @campnorthend’s first multifamily development hadn’t considered a way to support Charlotte’s small businesses owners — both at home and at work. We have a new retail drop at the North Charlotte neighborhood: Five creators will open storefronts out of live-work units at Camp North End’s new multifamily development, Kinship West.
"These ground-floor spaces are great news for those who dream of a short work commute or, as a consumer: A walkable neighborhood with everything you need — now including a manicure, a hat, a haircut, clothes or even a new tattoo."
charlotteobserver.com/charlo…
Ross Baird retweeted
With Opportunity Zones likely to expand, @rossbaird and I had an in depth conversation with @alex_flachsbart about the best in class model he has built with @OpportunityALA —Kudos to @InnovateEconomy for highlighting this thenewlocalism.com/newslette…
Ross Baird retweeted
I’ve known Dean for over five years now, and voted for him in 2016 when he first ran for Supervisor. Here’s a story about why I haven’t supported him since, why San Francisco is better off without him in elected office, and what other politicians can learn from his failure. 🧵
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