East Gainesville could see development help

A large chunk of East Gainesville and east Alachua County will likely be included in a new program to encourage long-term investment and job creation in specific communities, according to a news release issued by the governor's office Thursday afternoon.

The local tracts are part of 427 communities the governor is recommending that the federal government approve as "Low Tax Opportunity Zones." Though all of the program's details aren't worked out, under the program, those who invest in specific areas could defer capital gains taxes.

Besides Alachua, Dixie, Gilchrist, Columbia, Levy, Marion and Putnam also have tracts included in the governor's recommendation.

If approved, the zones, created as part of the tax package passed by Congress last year, would keep the designation for 10 years.

The U.S. Treasury Department has 30 days to certify each state’s recommendations, the governor's office news release said. After the zones are approved, the federal government will begin to designate how such "Opportunity Funds" are created and how businesses, developers and financial institutions can invest in them.

Edgar Campa-Palafox, Alachua County's economic development coordinator, said in an email Thursday afternoon that in mid-March, the city of Gainesville and county officials jointly nominated areas in incorporated and unincorporated east Gainesville — areas that have been economically depressed for many years — for the program.

City officials proposed designating areas roughly east of Sixth Street to the city limits, north to Northwest 53rd and south to 16th Avenue, he wrote.

County officials proposed designating much of the county's unincorporated east side.

Last year, Campa-Palafox wrote, the Alachua County Commission approved cutting by half development fees to help boost interest in economic development on the east side.

In a prepared statement Thursday evening, Erik Godet of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce said the chamber favors the plan to help support "jobs and opportunities in many of the communities in Alachua County that most need them."

The Brookings Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that focuses on public policy, has written that it's unclear whether such tax breaks will revitalize distressed areas or "simply provide benefits to developers investing in already-gentrifying areas."

The organization also noted that there is more evidence to support "Empowerment Zones" — which focus more on people and local services than "Opportunity Zones."

Empowerment Zones focus more on people and local services than capital investments, encouraging hiring in the targeted areas, the organization wrote.