City of Albuquerque creates Opportunity Zones to attract investments

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque Economic Development Department announced Monday that it has created a new webpage to house a prospectus and interactive map so investors, developers, businesses, and property owners can take advantage of federal Opportunity Zone resources. The city says the Opportunity Zones includes an interactive map to geographically search for Opportunity Zone projects in specific areas, and overlay other economic incentives and key indicators such as land use and demographics.

“Our Economic Development Department is matching Albuquerque’s strong assets with new opportunities,” said Mayor Tim Keller in a press release Monday. “Our proactive response to COVID-19 has helped Albuquerque fare far better than other cities in the region, making investors, developers, businesses, and newly-remote workers much more interested in our city. We’re using tools like this resource to start new conversations and partnerships that draw on these natural strengths.”

The city says Albuquerque’s 14 designated Opportunity Zones are meant to spur economic development and job creation through tax benefits to investors. They also say investors receive tax deferral, reduction in basis for long-term investments, and other tax incentives.

“The Opportunity Zone program provides us with another economic development tool in our belt,” said Synthia Jaramillo in the same press release, City of Albuquerque Director of Economic Development. “The team in my office has worked hard to put together materials that tell the story of why Albuquerque is a good place for developers to invest and to describe the characteristics of each of the 14 Opportunity Zones. Combined with other existing incentives at the state and local level, we are positioning Albuquerque to attract new and exciting opportunities.”

The city says the webpage offers tools to educate stakeholders about the distinct characteristics and advantages of each Opportunity Zone. It also showcases Albuquerque’s most competitive assets as a modern, mid-sized city.   

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