Caliber Announces First Opportunity Zone Project
Caliber, a full-service real estate investment company based in Scottsdale, plans to develop a top-tier branded hotel that will connect to the Tucson Convention Center as its first opportunity zone project.
Caliber, a full-service real estate investment company based in Scottsdale, plans to develop a top-tier branded hotel that will connect to the Tucson Convention Center as its first opportunity zone project.
The company, which calls the federal opportunity zone program “one of the best capital gains tax reduction programs of a generation,” was one of its first adopters, launching the Caliber Tax Advantaged Opportunity Zone Fund LP in July 2018.
For its first project, Calber is working in partnership with Rio Nuevo to develop a 170-room hotel that will be physically attached to the convention center and include 4,000 square feet of meeting space, a coffee shop and bar, a restaurant, and a rooftop pool. Construction is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2019 with a summer 2020 completion date.
“Caliber has a long history of investing in many of the areas designated as opportunity zones, including the Tucson market,” said Chris Loeffler, Caliber’s founder and CEO. “A quality hotel property at the convention center is a component of a much larger plan to develop downtown Tucson and we are excited to be a part of the revitalization of the area.”
Qualified opportunity zones are low-income communities that the government identified as needing economic revitalization through new capital investment. Taxpayers who sell investments that generate capital gains are eligible for tax reductions by reinvesting those gains in a opportunity zone fund. The Treasury Department recently issued proposed regulations for the funds, as reported by The DI Wire earlier this month.
Caliber provides individual accredited investors and registered investment advisors with alternatives to traditional investments. In addition to the Tax Advantaged Opportunity Zone Fund, the company forms and manages real estate private equity investments, either through individual assets or multi-asset funds. Since its inception in 2010, Caliber has acquired more than $350 million in real estate across the southwest with more than $275 million of assets under management.
