Greater Dubuque Development is working with the City of Dubuque and local developers to position two census tracts for a renewed federal investment program and to prepare projects that could use it.
Opportunity Zones encourage private investment in eligible lower-income areas by offering federal tax benefits to investors who reinvest capital gains through a Qualified Opportunity Fund. Greater Dubuque Development helped the City secure Opportunity Zone designations for much of downtown and the north end under the original program, then hosted an event to introduce the tool to local investors and businesses.
At the time, interest did not turn into Opportunity Zone projects in Dubuque. Some local investors saw the new program as complicated and were hesitant to use it, while national investors tended to focus on faster-growing markets. With key provisions of the original program approaching a 2026 end date, developers also faced a limited window to put projects together.
In 2025, Congress made the Opportunity Zone incentive permanent through a federal tax law commonly called the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. A new round of designated Opportunity Zones takes effect January 1, 2027. Greater Dubuque Development and its partners are using the time before then to address the barriers that held back local projects under the original program.
Working with the City, Greater Dubuque Development submitted census tracts 1 and 5 for consideration through Iowa’s designation process. The Iowa Economic Development Authority reviewed community applications before the Governor’s Office submitted its nominations to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, including both Dubuque census tracts. Treasury makes the final designation decision.
At the same time, Greater Dubuque Development has brought together a working group focused on the structure, financing, and development of potential projects. The group plans to develop case studies showing how the incentive could affect the financial viability of specific Dubuque projects. Its next step is to explore a Dubuque Qualified Opportunity Fund that could serve multiple projects, rather than leaving each project to establish its own fund.
Designation alone will not bring investment to Dubuque. By connecting developers, investors, the City, and state partners before the new program begins, Greater Dubuque Development aims to give promising projects a clearer path from concept to construction.
To learn more about Greater Dubuque Development’s Opportunity Zone work, contact Dave Lyons, Strategic Initiatives Consultant, at davel@greaterdubuque.org or Hannah Lyons, Project Manager, at hannahl@greaterdubuque.org. Both can be reached at 563-557-9049.