For you commercial real estate professionals, consider this recent press release from Creative Environments of Hollywood. This firm specializes in “creative and industrial Los Angeles lofts and office space.” As part of their methodology, they include an awareness of special tax benefits associated with the numerous state and federal tax-favored zones in that region.
The fact is tax-favored zones = tax-favored real estate. And it can be a good thing to help your business or your clients to secure favorable tax treatment by placing their operations within such a zone. You can see the potential competitive advantage for a real estate professional who knows his or her way around such zones.
Across the country, there are 70 (or more) federal Empowerment Zones and Renewal Communities offering a variety of special tax benefits to businesses. Add to these literally hundreds of state-zones. California alone has 42 state Enterprise Zones producing millions of dollars in CA tax savings annually for enterprise zone businesses.
All things being equal, a location within a zone may often be more desirable, and more profitable, than a similar location that is not within a tax-favored zone. If you are a commercial real estate broker, or the real estate professional for your company, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with these zones. You don’t have to become an expert, but you do need to know they exist and you need to know who to talk to when you are contemplating a new lease or purchase for an expanding businesses.