“Our Opportunity”: OZ Fund launched in Nipsey Hussle’s name

From left: David Gross, Nipsey Hussle, and Karen Bass

Before entrepreneur and rapper Nipsey Hussle was fatally shot outside of his Marathon Clothing store in March, he was planning to rebuild those neighborhoods in South Los Angeles, with help from the federal Opportunity Zones. He was scheduled to meet with lawmakers in Washington, D.C., to discuss his goals of reversing decades of disinvestment in South L.A.

Now, his business partners want to move forward with those plans, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The investment fund, called “Our Opportunity,” will tap wealthy African American entertainers, celebrities and athletes from the area, the Times reported. So far, the roster includes Nipsey Hussle’s business partner, real estate developer David Gross; L.A. City Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson; rapper and actor Clifford “T.I.” Harris; and radio host Charlamagne tha God.

The Opportunity Zone provision comes from the Trump administration’s 2017 tax overhaul, aimed at luring investment in neglected communities. It allows developers and investors to delay or reduce capital gains taxes for the sale of a business or an investment property, and put them into an Opportunity Zone fund.

Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin predicted Opportunity Zones [https://therealdeal.com/miami/2019/04/17/new-opportunity-zones-rules-are-released-will-developer-money-follow/] could bring in $100 billion of investments. About 8,700 such zones have been designated across the country, including parts of Nipsey Hussle’s Hyde Park neighborhood in South L.A. [LAT] — Gregory Cornfield