A new program for Maryland’s Opportunity Zones (OZs) is granting additional tax relief, a measure Gov. Larry Hogan hopes will spur economic development in his state’s distressed areas.

Maryland officials are calling Project Restore a $25-million economic recovery initiative that “will provide financial incentives for small businesses and commercial developers to revitalize vacant retail and commercial space.”

Maryland contains 149 OZs, the vast majority of which are low-income communities. Under Project Restore, businesses in those OZs are eligible for one to two years of sales tax relief rebates, depending on the county they’re located in.

OZs in the city of Baltimore, for instance, will be eligible for the two-year incentive. The maximum benefit is $250,000 per year.

Maryland is also offering small business applicants rental subsidies of $2,500 per month for 12 months — up to $30,000 — to help offset start-up costs during their first year.

“Project Restore will help put more ‘open for business’ signs in storefront windows, create thousands of jobs, and transform neighborhoods and communities,” Gov. Hogan said in a statement. He announced the initiative during a tour stop in the city of Berlin on June 28.

“This initiative is just one more shining example of how we aren’t just committed to fully recovering from this pandemic, [but] we are committed to coming back stronger and better than ever before,” Hogan added.

Kenneth C. Holt, Maryland’s secretary of housing and community development, called Project Restore “another step to revitalizing and bringing life back to the commercial corridors and Main Streets that are the lifeblood of Maryland’s economy.”

Maryland QOF sees economic boosts

VerteOZ, a College Park-based Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), is among the Maryland firms benefiting from Project Restore. The $11-million fund manages eight investments, according to its website.

Leonard Mills, president and CEO of VerteOZ, told Opportunity Zone Magazine that three of his QOF’s investments are in Maryland. All have received the state incentives on top of the federal OZ benefits.

On its social media, VerteOZ singled out two of the benefitting companies: Galen Robotics, which makes medical technology, and Outlook, an animation studio. Both are Baltimore-based.

“While some states have recently ‘decoupled’ from the OZ tax incentives,” Mills told Opportunity Zone Magazine, “Maryland has embraced and enhanced the incentive to bring private capital into OZs.”


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