HUD secretary visits McKeesport

By JEFF STITT

jstitt@yourmvi.com

Dr. Ben Carson, U.S Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and HUD Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Joseph J. DeFelice held a roundtable discussion in McKeesport to educate elected officials and developers about federally recognized Opportunity Zones. 

Participating in Thursday’s closed-door discussion at the Palisades were Mayor Michael Cherepko, members of city council, city hall employees, area business leaders and developers and others.

The meeting was a follow up to last month’s broader round table with DeFelice and other federal leaders on the same topic. It marked the third time DeFelice has visited McKeesport over the past two months.

In a prepared statement Friday, DeFelice said he thinks McKeesport has a chance at a bright future.

“I see a ton of promise in McKeesport,” DeFelice said. “This round table was about convening stakeholders and helping form the team that will move McKeesport forward in the future.”

Opportunity Zones, created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, are located in economically distressed communities where new investments, under certain conditions, may be eligible for preferential tax treatment, according to HUD.  

Localities qualify if they have been nominated for that designation by a state’s governor and that nomination has been certified by the Secretary of the U.S. Treasury via his delegation of authority to the Internal Revenue Service.

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