The federal government's Opportunity Zones program is offering a tax break to a marina for superyachts and adjacent planned development in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Justin Elliott, Jeff Ernsthausen, and Kyle Edwards report on how the Rybovich superyacht marina, located in West Palm Beach, Florida, just up the coast from Mar-a-Lago, came to be designated as an Opportunity Zone, and who stands to benefit from the designation.
Rybovich owner Wayne Huizenga Jr., son of the Waste Management and Blockbuster video billionaire Wayne Huizenga Sr., has long planned to build luxury apartment towers on the site, part of a development dubbed Marina Village.
Those planned towers, and the superyacht marina itself, are now in an area designated as an opportunity zone under President Donald Trump’s 2017 tax code overhaul, qualifying them for a tax break program that is supposed to help the poor.
Former Florida Governor Rick Scott "bestowed the tax break on the marina after a direct appeal from Huizenga Jr.," according to the article. "The state of Florida, based on an analysis of unemployment and poverty rates, had not originally intended to pick the census tract containing the superyacht marina for the program. But those plans changed in response to Huizenga’s lobbying…"
The article includes documentation of the process by which the marina and surrounding parcels won the Opportunity Zone designation.
Since its creation in the GOP tax reform bill of 2017, the Opportunity Zones program has faced repeated criticism for tax breaks delivered to wealthy land owners and developers in wealthy zip codes, seemingly far removed from the stated purpose of the program to deliver investment to economically distressed parts of the country.
FULL STORY: A Trump Tax Break To Help The Poor Went To a Rich GOP Donor’s Superyacht Marina

Legendary Parking Guru Donald Shoup Dies at 86
Urbanists are mourning the loss of a dynamic voice for parking reform and walkable cities.

DOT Memo Directs Transportation Funding to Communities With Higher Marriage and Birth Rates, Compliance with Immigration Officials and No Mask Mandates
The memo ties immigration enforcement to federal funding and prohibits mask or vaccine mandates.

Analysis: Cybertruck Fatality Rate Far Exceeds That of Ford Pinto
The Tesla Cybertruck was recalled seven times last year.

BLM Approves Controversial Oil and Gas Leases on Navajo Land
The parcels are located near a sensitive archaeological site, but some Indigenous leaders approve of the move, which will bring in millions in revenue.

Hong Kong Cab Hailing App Folds — and Uber Takes Over
HKTaxi launched a year before Uber came to town. Now, it’s shutting down. Lawmakers worry a monopoly looms.

Rural Homelessness Could Be Vastly Underestimated, Study Finds
The annual ‘point in time’ count fails to capture the diverse types of situations experienced by unhoused people in rural communities.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Standridge Inc.
City of Brookings
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research
NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service