Sikari Inc, Debuts $30 Million Opportunity Zone Investment Fund Focusing on Hillsborough County

TAMPA, Fla. - Aug. 10, 2018 - PRLog -- Sikari Luxe has officially launched a $30 million Qualified Opportunity Fund to invest in properties specifically located within Federal Opportunity Zones in and around Hillsborough County, FL, the first such pool of money to be unveiled in Tampa.

Sikari Luxe, a private real estate investment and development firm based in Ybor City, plans to use its new fund to focus on middle-market projects located in high-growth commercial real estate submarkets within Ybor City, as well as throughout the Hillsborough County area, according to Thomas Volpe, the firm's managing principal.

Sikari Luxe has already begun negotiating on its first property. Sikari Luxe will be looking to develop projects ranging from $1million to $15 million, with most of the ventures likely to fall in the $5 million to $7 million range, he noted.

"We will invest in all asset classes within the specific Opportunity Zones that we are pursuing, much of which will be a heavy value-add and opportunistic investments," Thomas said. Additional information can be found on their website at http://sikariluxe.com

The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 established the Opportunity Zone program, legislation that U.S. Sen. Cory Booker helped draft, as a way to spark private-sector investment in low-income urban and rural communities. The lure is a tax break on capital gains. The most recent estimates indicated by the New York Law Journal there is as much as $6.1 Trillion in unrealized capital gains that could be reinvested into Qualified Opportunity Funds and Opportunity Zones.

"Most notably, the program allows investors to unlock capital gains from any qualified asset and to redeploy proceeds which are tax-deferred into assets located in Opportunity Zones," Sikari Luxe said in announcing the fund.

Under the TCJA of 2017, much of which is focused on community revitalization. Investors only have 180 days from the date of tax gain to invest into an IRS Qualified Opportunity Fund and defer up to 100% of their capital gains tax. In addition to the tax benefit for this year's tax season, the investor gets an added benefit of receiving tax-free the gains on the Opportunity Fund Investment itself.

Virtua Partners, a private-equity real estate investment firm based in Phoenix, was one of the first companies nationally to say back in June that it was creating an Opportunity Zone fund, looking to raise $200 million.

"This is a historic opportunity that seldom presents itself," Thomas said in a statement. "It is a unique chance for investors to receive significant tax savings while investing in real estate located in communities that Sikari Luxe has identified as exhibiting strong growth potential. It is also a chance for our investors to further diversify out of traditional investments such as stocks and bonds and into real estate, while also earning the additional return boost due to the tax savings of the [Opportunity Zones] program".

For potential investors looking into Qualified Opportunity Funds, more information about the Sikari Luxe Qualified Opportunity Fund can be on their website at http://sikariluxe.com