Charles Landry was successful in petitioning the East Baton Rouge Metro Council to annex several significant St. George-area businesses to Baton Rouge.  The Metro Council’s January 8, 2020 approval of the annexation was unanimous.  The pro-Baton Rouge businesses include Turner Industries, an affiliate of Stirling Properties, the Louisiana School Employees Retirement System, and affiliated businesses that own much of United Plaza.  …

Charles Landry represents several significant St. George-area businesses that seek annexation to Baton Rouge.  His clients include Turner Industries, an affiliate of Stirling Properties, the Louisiana School Employees Retirement System, and affiliated businesses that own much of United Plaza.  The total assessed value of the real property at issue is $16 million. The Metro Council will vote on the annexation petitions on Wednesday, January 8, 2020.  Read more here.  

At the request of Mayor Joel Robideaux, the City-Parish of Lafayette recently hired Charles Landry and Lauren De Witt to assist in the creation of six Economic Development Districts (EDDs) in the City of Lafayette. The Council ultimately voted in favor of creating five EDDs. The EDDs add an important tool to the City’s economic development toolkit, with the ability to levy up to 2% sales taxes and hotel taxes and to partner with third party nonprofit groups and private developers to fund and construct a variety of economic development projects within the EDD. …

As more investors eye lucrative investment opportunities in Qualified Opportunity Zones, the SEC and state regulators will be monitoring securities activities associated with the program. Maureen Gershanik advises that, at the federal level, careful compliance with these four areas of securities regulations will help avoid costly violations that could delay or even prevent a transaction: Securities Offering Regulation, Broker-Dealer Regulation, Investment Adviser Regulation, and Investment Company Act Regulation.  Learn more in Maureen’s article that was recently published by the ABA Probate & Property Magazine.

The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund today announced the opening of the calendar year 2019 allocation round of the federal new markets tax credit (NMTC). Applications are due October 28, 2019. The CDFI Fund anticipates announcing 2019 NMTC awards in summer 2020. The CDFI Fund provides resources including an introduction to the NMTC program, the NMTC program application, the Notice of Allocation Availability (NOAA), an Awards Management Information System navigation guide, an application FAQ and an application roadmap presentation here.

The Opportunity Zones (“OZ”) tax incentive allows taxpayers to defer until 2026 taxes on capital gains if those profits are reinvested in opportunity funds–which are equity funds that invest in businesses in opportunity zones.  Read more about Opportunity Zones here.  If you have questions about Opportunity Zones, contact Charles Landry.