The Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) has designated new Opportunity Zones in Southwest Atlanta to help encourage business growth, job creation and economic revitalization.
Opportunity Zones provide a federal incentive in the form of a tax credit to businesses that create jobs within designated areas deemed economically distressed. The new zones include areas along Campbellton Road near the Greenbriar Mall and areas along Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive.
“Bringing new investment and jobs to Campbellton Road, Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive and other key corridors is a vital part of Atlanta’s economic development strategy,” says Mayor Andre Dickens. “These new Opportunity Zone designations will encourage small business investment that leads to increased prosperity for residents in these communities.”
The parcels of land along Campbellton Road (primarily Atlanta City Council District 11) and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive (primarily Atlanta City Council District 10) met the DCA requirements for Opportunity Zone status, such as underdevelopment, blighted conditions and general distress. Businesses located on these specific parcels are eligible to apply for the Opportunity Zone tax credit.
Invest Atlanta coordinates the City of Atlanta’s Opportunity Zone program and, according to Dr. Eloisa Klementich, president and CEO of Invest Atlanta, the incentive has a positive, long-term effect “Opportunity Zones will accelerate the impact we are making in these communities through the Tax Allocation Districts along these corridors and other economic development programs,” says Dr. Klementich. “In the last five years, the Opportunity Zone program has created 4,601 jobs in underinvested areas of the city.”
Campbellton Road and Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive are two of nine currently active State of Georgia Opportunity Zones in the city. The $3,500 per job state tax credit is available to businesses that create at least two jobs in a tax year. Georgia Opportunity Zone tax credits are good for up to five years and a maximum of $17,500 as long the jobs are maintained.
Opportunity Zones were established under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. As of 2024, there are 8,764 Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) in the United States designated to spur economic growth and investment in economically distressed areas through tax incentives. Each state and territory nominate their own zones, which are then certified by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
For more information about Georgia’s Opportunity Zone program, visit www.investatlanta.com or www.dca.ga.gov.