Opportunity Zone site screen: the 2018 map, the 2027 map, and what changes for your project
Enter a site address or click a census tract. The screen compares the location against both Opportunity Zone maps: the 2018 designations, which expire at the end of 2028, and the new 2027 designations, which take effect January 1, 2027 and run through 2036. It then explains what the difference means for an acquisition. Add your financing plan, and it flags the structural issues a credit officer will raise, each with its primary source.
Most Opportunity Zone maps answer one question: is this tract a zone? This screen answers the next three: will the status hold through your closing date, does the capital stack work, and what must a feasibility study cover before a lender relies on it.
Screen a site
Enter a street address. The screen tests the exact point against the 2018 zone map and the 2027 eligibility list, then returns the transition class and what it means for an acquisition.
Example:
How the screen works
1. Location. We match the address to its 2020 census tract through the U.S. Census Geocoder. We then test the exact point against the original 2018 zone boundaries, which are drawn on 2010 census tracts. Because the two maps use different tract vintages, a tract-level comparison can be wrong at the edges. A point-level test cannot.
2. Status in both maps. For the 2027 map, each tract carries the most authoritative status currently available:
- Eligible: listed in Rev. Proc. 2026-14, which covers 25,332 tracts.
- Nominated: confirmed only where a state has published its list.
- Designated: once the IRS publishes the final list.
- Not designated: eligible tracts left off that final list.
3. Transition class. The two statuses combine into one of nine classes, explained below. Each class carries the consequence for property acquired before and after December 31, 2026.
4. Overlays. The screen reports the incentives that commonly sit beside OZ equity in a capital stack: whether the tract is entirely rural under the new rules, whether it is a New Markets Tax Credit low-income community, and whether it is a 2027 HUD Qualified Census Tract or Difficult Development Area.
5. Structure check. You describe the deal: asset class, financing programs, whether an Opportunity Zone fund is in the ownership chain, project type and planned closing date. The screen returns rule-based flags, with blockers first, then cautions, then notes. Each flag cites the statute, regulation, IRS notice or SBA rule behind it.
The screen does not estimate value, forecast returns or pass judgment on feasibility. It tells you which questions the project must answer.
What changed with Opportunity Zones 2.0
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21, signed July 4, 2025) rebuilt the program. Five changes matter most for site selection and underwriting.
| Change | OZ 1.0 (2018 zones) | OZ 2.0 (2027 zones onward) | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Program life | Temporary; zones end Dec 31, 2028 | Permanent; new 10-year designation rounds | Long-dated projects no longer face a single cliff |
| Eligibility | 80% of area median family income, or 20% poverty; contiguous tracts allowed | 70% of area median family income, or 20% poverty with income at or below 125%; contiguous tracts repealed | Fewer eligible tracts: 25,332, of which 8,334 are entirely rural |
| Gain deferral | Deferred gain included Dec 31, 2026 | Rolling: included at sale or five years after investment | Investor tax timing now depends on the investment date |
| Basis step-up | 10% / 15% (largely unattainable after 2021) | 10% after five years; 30% for Qualified Rural Opportunity Funds | Rural projects carry materially stronger investor economics |
| Reporting | Forms 8996 and 8997 | New statutory fund and business reporting with penalties | Reporting covenants belong in loan documents |
The 10-year exclusion survives in both regimes. For investments made after 2026, if the investment is held at least 10 years, basis is fair market value on the sale date, or on the 30th anniversary if the investment has not been sold by then (IRS Notice 2026-55).
The nine transition classes
Every location falls into exactly one class. The class drives the readout.
| Class | What it means | Consequence for an acquisition |
|---|---|---|
| Zone in both maps | 2018 zone, designated again for 2027 | Status continues; post-2026 property follows the new rules |
| 2018 zone, nominated for 2027 | The state nominated it; Treasury has not yet certified | Treat 2027 status as contingent until certification |
| 2018 zone, 2027 undecided | Eligible for 2027; no published decision yet | Post-2026 acquisitions depend on the final list |
| 2018 zone, not 2027-eligible | Not on the 2027 eligible list | Will most likely drop out; off-list nominations remain possible but rare |
| 2018 zone, not in 2027 map | Final list published without it | Property acquired after Dec 31, 2026 generally does not qualify |
| New 2027 zone | Designated for 2027; was not a 2018 zone | Benefits start Jan 1, 2027; property must be acquired after that start date |
| Nominated for 2027 (new) | Nominated, not a 2018 zone | As above, and contingent until certification |
| Eligible for 2027 only | Eligible, not nominated or designated | No benefit unless nominated and certified |
| Not a zone | No status in either map | Opportunity Zone equity does not apply |
The most time-sensitive class is the 2018 zone that drops out of the new map. In those tracts, property acquired after December 31, 2026 generally cannot qualify. There are two exceptions:
- A working-capital plan. The plan must be adopted by December 31, 2026, with at least 10% of the planned working capital received and at least 5% spent by that date.
- Replacement property. The acquisition is ordinary-course replacement or modernization property, not an expansion (IRS Notice 2026-40, §5.01).
Key dates
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 28, 2026 | Last day for states to submit or modify 2027 nominations | Rev. Proc. 2026-14 §5.03 |
| Nov 23, 2026 | Comments due on Notice 2026-55 (implementation of the new rules) | IRS Notice 2026-55 |
| Nov 27, 2026 | Treasury certification deadline | Rev. Proc. 2026-14 §2.02(3)(f) |
| Dec 28, 2026 | Certification deadline if extended | Rev. Proc. 2026-14 §2.02(3)(f) |
| Before Jan 1, 2027 | IRS expects to publish the designated 2027 list | IR-2026-45 |
| Dec 31, 2026 | OZ 1.0 deferred gain included in income; deadline to adopt a working-capital plan in 2018-only tracts | Notice 2026-40 §§4.01, 5.01 |
| Jan 1, 2027 | 2027 designations take effect; OZ 2.0 investment rules apply | Rev. Proc. 2026-14; Notice 2026-40 |
| Dec 31, 2027 | Puerto Rico's 2018 zones end | Rev. Proc. 2026-14 §2.02(3)(d) |
| Dec 31, 2028 | All other 2018 zones end | Notice 2026-40 §2.04(2)(c) |
| Dec 31, 2036 | First round of 2027 designations ends | Rev. Proc. 2026-14 §2.02(3)(g) |
What lenders look for in an Opportunity Zone deal
Opportunity Zone equity is patient, subordinated cash equity, and lenders generally welcome it. The tax benefit, however, belongs to the investors, not the borrower. A credit officer will size the loan on project cash flow alone and give the tax benefit no weight. The questions that decide whether the loan closes are rarely about tax law. They are about timing and eligibility:
- Does the tract keep its status through the closing date, and is the 2027 status certified?
- Does the construction schedule fit inside the 30-month substantial-improvement window and the 31-month working-capital plan?
- Can the ownership structure pass the lender's program rules? SBA programs are the hardest case.
- Will the fund's 10-year hold, and its aversion to anything that triggers tax on the deferred gain, conflict with loan maturity, cash sweeps or a forced sale?
- Does the feasibility study show the project working with the tax benefit removed?
How SBA loans work in Opportunity Zones → · Stacking OZ equity with other incentives →
Rural zones: the stronger incentive
Of the 25,332 tracts eligible for 2027, 8,334 qualify as entirely rural. Under the new rules, a rural area excludes any city or town above 50,000 people and the urbanized area adjacent to it. Rural zones carry two enhancements:
- Higher step-up. A Qualified Rural Opportunity Fund earns a 30% basis step-up after five years, versus 10% elsewhere.
- Lower renovation threshold. Existing buildings meet the substantial-improvement test at 50% of basis rather than 100%. This rule already applies to the 3,309 existing 2018 zones the IRS classified as rural (Notice 2025-50).
Rural projects are also where USDA Business & Industry guarantees and SBA lending are most active, and where demand risk is hardest to judge from national averages.
State tax treatment differs
Federal Opportunity Zone benefits do not automatically carry through to state income tax.
- California does not conform to the deferral or exclusion.
- New York requires excluded gain to be added back.
- Massachusetts counts only zones located entirely within the Commonwealth, from tax year 2026.
- Colorado adds back excluded gain beyond amounts invested in Colorado-qualified funds, from tax year 2027.
Investors' after-tax returns, and with them the equity a project can raise, depend on where the investors file.
What the record shows about OZ capital
Qualified Opportunity Funds held $112 billion of zone property at the end of tax year 2024, according to IRS data analyzed by Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis. Investment reached 77% of designated tracts, but it is concentrated: the top fifth of tracts hold about 90% of the dollars. About 77% of fund investment in zone businesses was in real estate and rental and leasing. Operating businesses remain a small minority.
For lenders, the takeaway is that a zone designation does not, by itself, change local demand. Studies of the first round find real but modest effects:
- Housing: residential addresses rose about 3%.
- Jobs: employment rose about 1.3%, largely offset by losses in nearby tracts.
- Prices: no measurable effect on house prices.
Underwrite the market, not the designation.
Data and method
The screen uses only primary designation sources:
- the CDFI Fund's 2018 designation list and boundaries;
- IRS Notice 2025-50 for rural 2018 zones;
- Rev. Proc. 2026-14 for 2027 eligibility;
- state publications for confirmed nominations;
- the IRS designation notice once it is issued.
Overlays come from the CDFI Fund (New Markets Tax Credit low-income communities) and from HUD's 2027 Qualified Census Tract and Difficult Development Area designations. Every readout lists its sources and the date each dataset was loaded. Treasury's reported Alternate Framework additions have not been published by Treasury, so they are labeled provisional.
Full methodology and data sources → · Glossary of OZ 2.0 terms →
Frequently asked questions
Enter the address above. The screen tests the exact location against the 2018 boundaries and the 2027 status of its census tract. A property can be in a 2018 zone and not in a 2027 zone, or the reverse. For property acquired after December 31, 2026, the 2027 map is generally the one that counts.
States had until October 28, 2026 to submit nominations. Treasury must certify them by November 27, 2026, or by December 28, 2026 if the deadline is extended. The IRS expects to publish the designated list before January 1, 2027. Until then, nominated tracts are contingent.
They remain zones through December 31, 2028, or December 31, 2027 in Puerto Rico. Property acquired in them after December 31, 2026 generally does not qualify, unless it falls under a working-capital plan adopted and funded by that date or is ordinary-course replacement property.
Rev. Proc. 2026-14 lists 25,332 eligible tracts, of which 8,334 are entirely rural. Each state may designate up to 25% of its eligible tracts.
Sometimes, but it is the hardest combination in the capital stack. An Opportunity Zone fund cannot be the SBA borrower, any owner of 20% or more must guarantee the loan, and every direct and indirect owner must be a U.S. citizen or national. The usual structure keeps the fund as a minority investor under 20%.
Not by itself. The tax benefit accrues to investors, and lenders size debt on project cash flow. The designation can help raise patient equity, which improves leverage. It does not reduce market risk.
A fund that holds at least 90% of its assets in zone property located in a zone made up entirely of rural area. For amounts invested after December 31, 2026, it earns a 30% basis step-up after five years instead of 10%.
No. It is an indicative screening tool. Confirm eligibility with the official IRS, Treasury, CDFI Fund and HUD sources, and confirm structure with tax counsel before relying on any result.
From screen to study
A screen tells you which questions a project must answer. A feasibility study answers them. Union Metric feasibility studies for Opportunity Zone projects add a compliance annex covering the following:
- tract verification against both maps;
- substantial-improvement and working-capital timelines tied to the draw schedule;
- the fund's asset and income tests;
- a 10-year-plus exit valuation;
- a downside case with the tax benefit removed.
What an Opportunity Zone feasibility study covers → · Talk to an analyst →