Maryland Opportunity Zones

Program Overview

The Opportunity Zone Program is a national place-based initiative to encourage long-term private investment in economically distressed communities. The program offers tax incentives to investors who reinvest capital gains into designated Qualified Opportunity Funds (QOFs). QOFs are, in turn, required to make at least 90% of their investments in qualified property, stock, or partnership interest located within designated Opportunity Zones.

Maryland currently has 149 designed Opportunity Zones which will expire on December 31, 2026. On January 1, 2027 113 new Opportunity Zones will go into effect with updated tax benefits.

To learn more, please contact Albert Bossar at [email protected].

Opportunity Zone 2.0 Designations

By September 29, 2026, the Governor must submit up to 113 census tracts to the US Treasury for designations. Please visit the Opportunity Zone 2.0 Eligible Census Tract Interactive Map to learn more about the 451 census tracts eligible for designation.

Maryland counties may submit nominations for eligible census tracts within their jurisdictions to DHCD by August 7, 2026. Municipalities are encouraged to coordinate with designated county points of contact to aggregate priority areas and projects in the pipeline.

On May 20, 2026 - DHCD kicked off the local jurisdiction nomination process with a webinar. Access the webinar reording and meeting materials:

County Points of Contact

Local stakeholders are encouraged to contact their county’s designated point of contact to coordinate on census tract nominations.

County	Point of Contact	Title	Email
Allegany	Nathan Price	Senior Project Manager, Economic Development	[email protected]
Anne Arundel	Amy Gowan	Director, Economic Development	[email protected]
Baltimore County	Tucker Cavanaugh	Deputy Administrative Officer for Economic Development	[email protected]
Baltimore City	Jeremy Watson	Senior Vice President & Chief Real Estate Officer	[email protected]
Calvert	Jacquelyn Culver	Dep Director, Department of Community Resources	[email protected]
Caroline	Robert Zimberoff	Director, Economic Development & Tourism	[email protected]
Carroll	Denise Beaver and Paige Sunderland	Director and Deputy Director of Economic Development	[email protected]
Cecil	Sandra Edwards	Director, Economic Development	[email protected]
Charles	Paul Ruppert and Tony Felts	Senior Commercial Development Manager; Assistant Chief of Planning	[email protected]; [email protected]
Dorchester	Susan Banks	Director, Economic Development	[email protected]
Frederick	Heather Gramm	Economic Development Director	[email protected]
Garrett	Kim Durst	Manager, Business Development	[email protected]
Harford	Kimberly Sparza	Director, Economic Development	[email protected]
Howard	Felix Facchine	Deputy Chief of Staff, CEX	[email protected]
Kent	Jamie Williams	Director of Economic & Tourism Development	[email protected]
Montgomery	Ken Hartman	Deputy Administrative Officer	[email protected]
Prince George's	TBD	TBD	TBD
Queen Anne's	Heather Tinelli and Deborah Gill	QACETD Director; Economic Development Coordinator	[email protected]; [email protected]
Somerset	Danny Thompson	Director of Economic Development	[email protected]
St. Mary's	Kellie Hinkle and David Weiskopf	Economic Development Director	[email protected]; [email protected]
Talbot	Cassandra Vanhooser	Director of Economic Development and Tourism	[email protected]
Washington	Machelle Dwyer	Business Leader	[email protected]
Wicomico	Tracy Taylor and Lori Carter	Director of Planning, Zoning and Community Development; Grant Administrator	[email protected]; [email protected]
Worcester	Melanie Pursel	Director, Office of Tourism & Economic Development	[email protected]

Common Questions

How does the program work?

In a nutshell, the Opportunity Zone Program is an investor tool to incentivize investments in projects and areas that may not otherwise be sufficiently attractive to investors. Here is how it works in a nutshell:

Step 1: An individual or institution realizes a capital gain by selling an asset that increased in value, triggering a taxable event.
Step 2: If that realized capital gain is invested in a Qualified Opportunity Fund within 180 days, the taxes on that capital gain are deferred for up to 5 years.
Step 3: If the investment is held in the fund for at least 5 years, the capital gain tax amount due is discounted by 10% for a standard Opportunity Zone and 30% for a Rural Opportunity Zone.
Step 4: The big one - If the investment is held in the Qualified Opportunity Fund for at least 10 years, the capital gains earned are entirely exempt from federal and state capital gains taxes.

Federal Guidance and Resources

On April 6, 2026, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provided guidance to states on submitting Opportunity Zone 2.0 designations.

Which census tracts are eligible for Opportunity Zone designation?

Eligibility for OZ 2.0 has been altered and will now be based on a census tract meeting one of two definitions for a "low-income community."

Low-income community designation:

Poverty rate: The census tract had a poverty rate of at least 20% AND less than 125% of state/metro MFI; or
Median family income: The median family income of the census tract did not exceed 70% of the state or area median family income, whichever was greater.

Maryland may designate 113 census tracts as Opportunity Zones.

Maryland Program Enhancements in Opportunity Zones

Affordable Rental Housing and Homeownership
Business Creation, Expansion, and Retention
Community Development and Revitalization
Job Creation and Workforce Training

Maryland Department of Housing and
Community Development