Three Garrett County census tracts are among the 114 Maryland tracts in the new round of federal Opportunity Zones, according to a press release from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).
The state’s designation roster lists the Garrett County tracts by community:
- Tract 1, Friendsville / Hoyes
- Tract 4, Kitzmiller / Bloomington
- Tract 7, Mountain Lake Park / Loch Lynn
The Mountain Lake Park and Loch Lynn tract was also an Opportunity Zone in the 2018 round, according to the roster. The Friendsville and Kitzmiller tracts are new to the program.
Opportunity Zones were created by federal legislation in 2017. The designation offers tax benefits for qualifying investments in census tracts classified as economically distressed, with investors putting earnings into specialized funds that support those communities, according to the release. DHCD said first-round investments were concentrated in housing, manufacturing and commercial real estate, and that the 2025 revision of the program was meant to offer special enhancements for rural communities.
Counties nominated individual tracts to DHCD, which worked with local officials, business owners, investors and community development experts to identify where a designation would do the most good. The department sent its list to the U.S. Department of the Treasury last month, and Treasury released the official designations on Nov. 5. The new zones take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and remain in place until 2037.
Elsewhere in the region, the roster lists three Allegany County tracts, labeled Cumberland city-center, Frostburg / FSU / Main St, and Rolling Mills. Washington County has four tracts, all in Hagerstown.
DHCD Secretary Jake Day also named Bert Bossar as Maryland’s first Opportunity Zone Investment Czar, a new staff position meant to help communities benefit from the designations. An interactive map shows all of the designated tracts in Maryland and nationwide.
