Belpointe has launched the first public Opportunity Zone focused REIT to be registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Belpointe REIT seeks to invest in real estate assets in Opportunity Zones, as legislated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and is open to Non-Accredited and Accredited investors, with a low minimum investment amount of USD10,000.
The Belpointe REIT aims to offers a unique and superior investment vehicle for all investors, individual and institutional, who are looking to benefit from the tax-advantaged high-return investment opportunities available in Opportunity Zones. The Belpointe REIT is targeting an equity offering of USD3 billion and expects to list on the NYSE or NASDAQ in six-eight years.
The Belpointe REIT offers one of the lowest fee structures in the real estate investment industry, with ZERO upfront commissions, an annual management fee of only 0.75 per cenr, and a carried interest fee of only 5 per cent. The Belpointe REIT is charging such low fees in order to disrupt the real estate investment industry and to allow its investors to obtain superior economics that are more in line with direct real estate investing.
Through an eventual public listing, the Belpointe REIT offers ultimate exit liquidity to its investors, who will be able to control the timing and magnitude of their stock sales. In addition, the Belpointe REIT offers quarterly liquidity to its investors with ZERO penalties, until the public listing occurs. By contrast, investors in most private equity real estate funds have no liquidity until fund maturation, which can be as long as 15 years.
The Belpointe REIT is backed by the Belpointe organisation, comprised of former AvalonBay professionals with extensive in-house real estate management, construction and development expertise, which allows for better investment underwriting and risk mitigation. Belpointe and its AvalonBay team have developed real estate assets with an aggregate cost of over USD1 billion.
Only capital gains derived from the sale of an asset are eligible to receive the tax benefits of Opportunity Zone investing. Such capital gains, when reinvested in the Belpointe REIT within 180 days of the gain recognition, will be excluded from shareholders' gross income until the earlier of 31 December, 2026 or when shareholders sell their shares. If shares are held for at least 5 years, shareholders receive a 10% reduction in the taxes due on their original capital gains, and if the shares are held for at least 7 years, shareholders receive an additional 5 per cent reduction, for a total 15% reduction in taxes. In addition, if shareholders hold their shares for at least 10 years, shareholders are exempt from federal taxation on capital gains derived from the appreciation of their Belpointe REIT investment.
Brandon Lacoff, CEO, says: "The Belpointe REIT offers the ideal structure for investing in Opportunity Zones by providing additional tax benefits, lower fees and better liquidity, in addition to being backed by our in-house real estate expertise and track record." Therefore, the Belpointe REIT is a powerful tool available to Financial Advisors, Accountants and other investment fiduciaries, to attract new clients to their practices and to help clients achieve their investment goals – while simultaneously contributing to the economic revitalisation of communities across the United States.