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Senator Scott, Secretary Turner Visit Affordable Housing Development, Opportunity Zone

CHARLESTON, S.C. — U.S. Senator Tim Scott (R- S.C.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and Scott Turner, Secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, visited One80 Place, an affordable housing development project in Charleston, South Carolina. One80 Place also has a 6-story, $44 million housing and shelter project currently under construction. Located in an Opportunity Zone, the 70 affordable housing units and 65-bed family shelter will be the first of its kind in the area with hopes to replicate the project across the country in the future.

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“To have the Secretary of HUD to stop by Charleston, South Carolina, invest his valuable time in seeing the progress that we are making as a community, it is a blessing…and it is also a blessing to have One80 Place working so hard on behalf of a critical issue. One of our top goals on the [Senate Banking] Committee is housing and affordability, and I’m thankful that we have a partner who’s on the job every single day, leading the way from Washington, and many people in the local community, on the job, every single day, helping us take care of our own communities,” Senator Scott said at the visit. “Certainly, we’re focusing on the regulatory environment. And frankly, the private sector as well…you look at our bill, the ROAD to Housing Act, it focuses on relieving some of the pressure in the system from a regulatory perspective. [I believe] that will allow for more homeownership, faster.”

Background

Senator Scott’s Opportunity Zones initiative has driven $84.7 billion to underserved communities, unlocking economic opportunities that were not previously available. As the leader of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council during President Trump’s first term, Secretary Turner has been key to the success of the initiative, which has drawn bipartisan praise from the likes of then-Governor John Hickenlooper, Governor Gavin Newsome, and then-Mayor Pete Buttigieg. The Senator is looking forward to working with President Trump and his Republican colleagues on a package to broaden and extend Opportunity Zones and continue driving economic development in the communities that need it most.

The Opportunity Zones (OZ) tax incentive is helping tackle the nation’s housing crisis by making significant increases in housing supply. According to the Economic Innovation Group, OZs have led to: 

  • A significant and immediate increase in new commercial and residential development activity in targeted low-income communities, according to a study of building permits across 47 large cities through June 2022.
    • The likelihood of investment in a designated census tract in a given month jumped by over 20 percent after OZs were enacted.
  • The doubling of new national multifamily housing developments.
    • OZs are home to about 10 percent of the country’s population but now account for 20 percent of all new market-rate multifamily apartment units being developed in the country.
  • The creation of 172,000 new apartment units across 972 developments and 2,014 cities.

In his confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee, Secretary Turner committed to visit areas like Charleston, South Carolina, to see firsthand the housing challenges Americans across the country face. In an interview earlier this year, Secretary Turner cited Senator Scott’s ROAD to Housing Act as a priority to help unleash investment in affordable housing initiatives across the country.

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