OZFund, Inc.
Breathing New Life Into Our Communities.
Pitch
OZFund, Inc., is a community-focused Qualified Opportunity Fund ('QOF') with a solution to help revitalize working family neighborhoods by acquiring below market properties located in the 'Opportunity Zones' of Central Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic regions and redeveloping these properties into affordable living accommodations and commercial space for businesses serving the community.
Geared towards taxpayers looking to invest in real estate projects or in operating businesses, Opportunity Zones ('OZ') are tracts of land designated by the Federal government as areas offering special tax breaks to investors who invest in projects located in OZ's.
OZFund focuses on utilizing its wealth of investing knowledge and real estate experience to create safe, affordable housing for America's working families. OZFund may also invest in businesses that lease space from the Company, offering additional returns not usually found with projects of this kind.
Our team has a proven track record of real estate investing and property development from design through construction and execution.
The Company's first project is underway in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Key Facts |
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ATTRACTIVE RETURNS: OZFund is targeting IRRs of 16% or more. |
TEAM: OZFund projects are supported by an experienced team of investors, property developers, architects, and construction professionals with over 100 years of experience. |
SHAREHOLDER ALIGNMENT: The Chairman/CEO has invested alongside early accredited Investors. |
COMMUNITY FOCUSED: OZFund, Inc. is a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF) with plans to design and build affordable rentals. |
OPPORTUNITY ZONES: OZFund is a qualified fund formed to invest in projects that improve disadvantaged communities. This program offers significant tax advantages for the investor. |
Why we're compelling
What we're offering
Security Type
Click on the dollar amount displayed to enter your exact amount.
Benefits & Perks
The people making this happen
• Oversees entire company management including finance capital, equity, and debt financings and strategic planning functions
• Over 35 years of multi-faceted business and real estate experience including large infrastructure projects
• 8-year veteran of the British Royal Navy (Secretariat/Logistics).
• Graduate of the UK Defence College of Logistics, Administration, and Policing
• Responsible for accounting and finance functions
• More than 10 years of real estate experience
• BS in Math and Business from Lebanon Valley College
• MBA from West Chester University
• Responsible for supporting the day-to-day operational activities and implementation of the vision, goals, and strategic plan of the company
• Manages Insurance functions
• Manages Communication Strategy
• Over 25 years of real estate experience
• Associate degree in Banking Technology
• BA in Law
• Responsible for strategic and political consulting, policy development, lobbying, and advocacy
• BS from Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Planning our path forward
Opportunity Zone (OZ) program added to the tax code by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, providing tax incentives for investors who invest new capital in businesses operating in one or more OZ’s.
Feasibility study for an affordable apartment Project in the Opportunity Zone at 800 S. Queen St., Lancaster, PA kicks off with a team of architects, construction and land development professionals.
OZFund is formed as a Delaware entity.
Professional Design & Construction, Inc hired as overall project coordinator and construction manager
ELA Land Engineers and Landscape Design hired for land planning and geotechnical support.
Environmental studies completed with no adverse conditions found.
Lancaster Housing Opportunity Partnership provides $150k low-interest loan to support the pre-development expenses of the project.
Zoning variances approved by Lancaster City Zoning Board.
ELA develops a roadmap to permitting and breaking ground.
Permits received. Groundbreaking and construction starts.
Property development completed, residential and commercial tenants selected.
Additional information about risks
General Risk
Investing in early stage companies without a proven track record of
performance or sound liquidity such as OZFund, Inc. (the “Company”) is
highly speculative in nature and presents significant risk to you, as the
investor. In short, you may lose your entire investment. Prior to investing,
you need to thoroughly research and understand all potential risk
associated with investing in the Company. Until the Company has achieved
profitability and is without need of raising additional capital, the chance of
you losing your entire investment remains likely. Therefore, you should not
invest more than you are willing to comfortably lose.
Like the Company, many companies engaging in crowd funding are early
stage start-ups with a high likelihood of failure due to various factors
contained in these risk disclosures. Regardless of future revenue and/or
profitability performance, good and bad, there is no guarantee that you will
ever see a return on your investment, or that you will ever be in a place to
exit your investment for a profit or a loss.
As with all investments, you should proceed with caution, do your own
research, due diligence, and seek professional investment advice prior to
investing. A professional adviser may identify and alert you to risk not
covered in these disclosures. The realization of any of the risks contained
herein or unknown risks not disclosed could lead to an immediate need for
the Company to raise additional capital, make difficult and unpopular
operational decisions, or cease operations altogether. You understand that
in the event you lose your entire investment you may have limited or no
recourse against the Company.
Valuation Risk
With early stage investing, start-up valuation accuracy can be difficult to
obtain. Accurate valuation of the Company can be difficult to assess. Public
companies are valued publicly, and valuations are supported through
market driven stock prices and vast amounts of corporate data provided by
the public company. Valuation of a private company is established privately
by the company itself and can be difficult to assess due to the limited
availability of public information and historical records, or limited time in
business. There may exist additional classes of equity with rights that are
superior to the class being sold through this offering. New equity classes
may be created based on future needs of the Company, which may dilute or
devalue prior investor securities
Corporate Governance Risk
The Company is not subject to the corporate governance requirements of
the national securities exchanges. Any company whose securities are listed
on a national securities exchange is subject to a number of rules about
corporate governance intended to protect investors. For example, the
major U.S. stock exchanges require listed companies to maintain an audit
committee comprised entirely of independent members of the board of
directors (i.e., directors with no material outside relationships with the
company or management), responsible for monitoring the company's
compliance with local, state and federal law. The Company does not
possess, nor will it be required to implement these and other such controls
and investor protections
Marketing Risk
Sales and revenue projections are based on hypothetical marketing
estimates. However, the Company may not be able to successfully
maintain, promote and grow the brand through its marketing and
communication strategies. Increasing the number of customers while
establishing brand awareness and loyalty may prove difficult in the hyper
competitive marketplace in which the Company operates. Inability to
successfully market the Company and increase its customer base will
adversely impact the Company's operations and inhibit success while
posing a risk to shareholder investment.
Third Party Risk
The Company relies on multiple third-party services that are essential to its
operations and achievement of business objectives. It is possible that these
third parties will fail to perform their services as represented or will
perform them in an unacceptable manner that will result in a material
negative impact to the Company and shareholder value. Your investment
may be adversely impacted by the Company's reliance on third party service
providers and their performance.
Financial Statement Risk
Unless otherwise indicated, the Company has not provided investors with
financial statements which have been audited by an independent third-party accounting firm. As such, information regarding the Company’s
capitalization, assets and liabilities is unaudited. If you feel that the
information provided by the Company is not sufficient for you to make a
reasonably informed decision, you should not invest in the Company.
Key Person Risk
Due to the Company’s small size, it is susceptible to key person risk. The
success of the Company will largely be dependent upon the experience and
skill of its oversight committee, board of directors, executive officers and
tenured employees. The Company can make no guarantees that key
individuals necessary for successful operation of the business objectives
will continue to be employed by the Company for any defined period of
time. Loss of any key persons for any reason could cause irreparable harm
to the Company’s ability to deliver value to shareholders, meet business
objectives, and could cause the Company and your investment to suffer.
Risk of Limited Operating History
The Company is a newly established entity that lacks a substantial
operating history. Prospective investors will have limited information on
which to base their investment decision
Revenue Risk
The Company is pre-revenue and will face challenges in its efforts to grow
the business and monetize its products and services. It has limited operating capital and will be largely dependent upon its ability to finance operations from the sale of equity, the issuance of debt or other financing alternatives. The Company's failure to successfully raise operating capital or effectively monetize its products could potentially result in an adverse impact to the business, up to and including bankruptcy.
Competitive Risk
The market in which the Company operates is highly competitive and is
likely to become increasingly competitive in the future. The Company may
ultimately face declining sales, decreased revenue or smaller margins as a
direct result of competition in the marketplace. Changes in customer
preference or the inability to successfully compete with other companies
offering a similar product or service could negatively impact the Company's
financial performance.
Demand Risk
Realized market demand for the Company’s Project may not yield
forecasted sales or revenue expectations contained herein. All demand
calculations factored into the forward-looking sales models are based on
hypothetical estimates that may not be obtained when the Project is
released.
Personnel and Management Risk
Investing in the Company is an investment in the founders, employees and
management team. Their ability to execute the business plan and make
sound operational decisions will be important factors in the viability and
success of the Company. As the Company’s investors, you will not be able
to participate directly in the Company’s day-to-day operations or engage
management or other employees. The Company’s security holders do not
have special right of access to the Company unless otherwise granted. Your
investment in the Company will in part be allocated by the Company to fund
employee, management and executive officer compensation. This
compensation is exclusively set by Company leadership.
Use of Funds Risk
The projected use of funds and proceeds from this Regulation CF offering is
a best estimate. Actual capital allocation may differ based on business
conditions at time of execution and is solely based on the Company's
discretion. The Company’s investors should be comfortable with the
provided intended fund usage description and understand the Company's
leadership and management team reserves the right to re-allocate use of
proceed funds based on the needs of the Company.
Credit Risk
There is a high likelihood that the Company will require access to capital or
credit in order to support business growth finance requirements. Acquiring
extensions of credit with favorable terms can be challenging and is highly
dependent upon macro-economic conditions coupled with
aforementioned internal and external known and unknown factors. If the
Company is unable to obtain needed credit it could be forced to modify
business strategy, growth projections, or take other action necessary to
raise additional capital or conserve existing funds. The Company's inability
to secure future credit could adversely impact the business, its valuation,
and/or the value of shareholder securities.
Capital Risk
The Company requires ongoing intensive capital formation and allocation
until profitability is achieved which may not happen due to various internal
and external known and unknown factors. The amount of capital the
Company is attempting to raise in this offering will not be enough to sustain
its business operations to profitability. The Company will have to raise
additional capital to continue development and fund operations and
expansion. There is no guarantee that additional capital will be able to be
raised by the Company even if this raise is successful. If the Company is
unable to acquire additional capital it may be required to alter its business
plan, business strategy, sell assets, reduce workforce, restructure under
the protections of a bankruptcy filing, or cease operations and dissolve.
Under such scenarios, no return of capital, shareholder settlement or
refund would be issued to investors. The Company's inability to secure
future capital could adversely impact the business, its valuation, and/or the
value of shareholder securities.
Disclosure Risk
Data and information regarding the Company and the investment
opportunity is limited. You may not have or be able to obtain all the
information requested or sought after in order to make a sound investment
decision. While the Company is required to disclose certain information
such as an offering document, annual financial statements, annual reports,
information concerning intended use of funds and material changes, such
disclosures and information contained herein do not represent all the data
or risks associated with investing in early stage companies such as the
Company.
Available information will be limited as the Company does not have a fully
developed business plan and long history of operation. Investing in
crowdfunding companies presents significantly more risk than investing in
publicly traded companies due to the limited amount of data and
information provided by a company engaging in a Regulation CF raise.
Unlike the Company, publicly listed companies are required to file annual
and quarterly reports and promptly disclose material information,
providing the ability for the investor to more closely and thoroughly
monitor their investment.
Liquidity Risk
The Company’s securities will be illiquid. The Company’s securities may not
be converted into cash.
With limited exceptions, you will not be lawfully able to sell or transfer your
securities during the initial mandatory 12-month lock-up period. After this
period, Federal and State securities regulations may limit or restrict your
ability to sell or transfer your securities. In the event you are able to sell
your securities you will likely have a hard time finding a buyer due to a lack
of an established market, and, if such a marketplace exists, it may experience low volume or few participants. You should be prepared to hold
your investment for a very long time.
Performance Risk
There is a high likelihood that future Company performance may not
achieve its stated objectives herein. All statements, claims and
representations of future performance are for the most part hypothetical,
based on management's good faith and best efforts estimates, analysis, and
forecasts. Current management expectations and projections regarding
future performance, financial trends, societal trends, economic trends, and
other reasonable beliefs impacting the business, financial conditions, and
the results of its operations form the basis for the projections and other
forward-looking statements made herein. As socioeconomic trends
change, there is a high likelihood that such assumptions made in good faith
and contained herein may become less reliable creating a circumstance
where adjustments to the Company’s operations may be required.
Achievement of stated performance contains risks based on known and
unknown internal and external factors that could lead to material changes
or variations of actual results. There is no guarantee that the Company's
financial and operations performance will meet expectations or herein
stated projections and forward-looking statements.
Economic Risk
The Company’s success is extremely sensitive to various known and
unknown internal and external societal, regulatory, and economic factors.
These factors may impact the performance of the Company and its ability
to achieve stated objectives.
Known factors include, but are not limited to:
• Local, regional, national, or global economic recessions;
• Changes in capital market conditions and the Company's ability to obtain
future funding;
• Changes or declines in employment within the Company and outside the
Company;
• Domestic or international tax policy changes;
• Domestic and global political conditions;
• Wars, natural disasters and other potential crisis.
Unknown factors include ones undisclosed herein that have a high
likelihood of occurring without forewarning or knowledge thereof. Such
events could lead to a sudden and intense need for the Company to raise
additional capital, make difficult and unpopular operational decisions, or
cease operations.
Loans
If funds in excess of those raised are needed by the Company, the Company
retains the right to obtain a loan or additional debt, the repayment of which
will take priority over the payment of dividends, revenue sharing returns
and prior debt offerings to investors.
Fraud Risk
There is no guarantee that any investment is immune from fraud. While
most public offerings, including Regulation CF offerings, require screening
standards, oversight and reviews, the risk of fraud remains high when
investing in any early stage company including start-ups such as the
Company. There is no guarantee as to the validity or accuracy of the
Company’s claims or representations about technology, projections and
forward-looking statements, advertising materials related to this
crowdfunding raise, or past or future performance. You are required to
undertake your own diligence and/or consult your financial advisor with
respect to the accuracy and validity of the Company’s materials.
Dilution Risk
The Company plans to raise more capital in the future with possibly more
than one round of funding. Dependent upon the offering, new investors
may receive additional equity shares in the Company and existing
shareholders may experience a decrease in ownership percentage (dilution)
upon the issuance of new shares by the Company, possibly at a lower price.
Future offerings may provide the new investors with advantages not
available to you as a previous investor
What our supporters have to say
"Lancaster City Alliance is pleased to support the residential/commercial project planned by the OZFund in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It will provide attractive new housing and commercial opportunities."
- Jeremy Young
Community & Economic Development Manager
"The plans align with the City of Lancaster’s policy goals to expand housing supply, offer additional affordable housing options in the city and foster neighborhood amenities and services."
- Chris Delfs
Director of Community Planning and Development
"The Opportunity Zone legislation has used several big tax benefits to allow investors to improve the quality of living for those in high need … and deliver solid returns on investment. This Fund has"
- Chad Rodenberger, MD
OZFund Investor
"It was a fantastic opportunity to invest with Jeremy and his team alongside so many other purposeful investors as well as taking advantage of the tax incentives of the OZFund. It was a win-win."
- Nathan Shea
Investor
"This project will offer much-needed medical services, food service, daycare, and a general store. All these positive attributes helped me in my decision to invest in the OZFund."
- John Suarez
OZFund Investor
Look who's talking
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Opportunity Zone?
Opportunity Zones were created by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These zones are designed to spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities throughout the country and U.S. possessions by providing tax benefits to individuals who invest into these communities. For investors who invest a capital gain, there are special tax benefits, but you do not need a capital gain to invest in this project.
Who can invest in the Opportunity Zone?
Accredited investors can invest in a Qualified Opportunity Fund (QOF), like the OZFund. The OZFund is a real estate fund that intends to develop affordable apartments and commercial space starting with the prior Rebmans Property on South Queen Street in Lancaster, PA. The return on your investment in the OZFund is worth it, regardless if you have a capital gain to invest or not.
How long until the project is completed?
Approximately 18 months from Spring of 2022.
Who is building the project?
The overall project coordinator and construction contractor is Professional Design and Construction (PD&C). PD&C is a successful 30-year-old experienced design and construction firm based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with multiple large commercial construction projects to their credit.
Is there going to be a refinance event at any time in the 10-year horizon?
We may sell the building or refinance it in the 10-year horizon but this will only be done as a benefit to our investors.
If an investor puts $100,000 in the OZFund can they lose the principal amount?
We believe the possibility an investor may lose all or a part of his/her investment in this project is low; however, there is always a risk in any type of investment. This is explained in great detail in our offering documents. Our financial model suggests that based on the current building valuation and future improvements we make to the property; we estimate that equity investments in our fund will be more than adequately covered by the property valuation of the completed project and ultimately, proceeds from the sale of the building. The value of the building increases greatly when the development is completed and the apartments and spaces are fully rented. Another factor to consider is the increase in Lancaster property values generally, as we’ve seen in recent years with all of the new developments either under construction and/or fully completed.
How many units have to be rented to break even?
In year 1, we will break-even at about 15-20% residential vacancy or about 30% commercial vacancy. However, we think both residential and commercial will be rented very quickly and we will have a waiting list. This is due, in part, because of a lack of affordable housing and commercial space in the area.
What is a Reduction in Capital Gains Owed?
A huge benefit of the Opportunity Zone legislation is that it allows investors to receive a reduction in capital gains owed. After five years of investing in an Opportunity Zone, any reinvested profits experience a 10% increase in basis.
Who is supporting the project?
o Lancaster City Alliance, an organization dedicated to the City of Lancaster with a mission of improving the City’s financial stability, public safety and quality of life.
o Community First Fund, a community development financial institution in Pennsylvania that provides funding for five critical pillars - economic security, affordable housing, food resources, accessible healthcare and educational opportunities - Community First Fund is building bridges to vibrant and healthy communities.
o City of Lancaster – Mayor’s Office
What is the size of your market for affordable rental accommodation?
In Lancaster County, renters make up 29.11% of the population of approximately 550,000 people.
What’s the need for affordable housing in Lancaster, PA?
Lancaster is experiencing extraordinary investment. And while this includes significant residential development, it was recently reported of the almost 750 new units (rental and for sale) recently completed, under construction or planned, currently less than 20 percent are considered affordable. According to a December 2019 report in the Lancaster Newspaper, ‘….the shortage of affordable housing in eastern Lancaster County [is] reaching crisis proportions’.
What is the anticipated liquidity event for participants in this round?
The sale of the building after the 10- year window to take advantage of the OZ. We will sell at the most advantageous time and, if that is early on in the 10-year window, we would want to start another project with the proceeds.
What people are saying about us