🔒Norwalk private equity firm channels hundreds of millions into Alabama shipyard as part of defense-focused opportunity zone strategy

A Norwalk-based private equity firm is channeling hundreds of millions of dollars into a historic shipyard in the Deep South as part of its strategy to make tax-advantaged investments that strengthen the nation’s defense industrial base. CapZone Impact Investments has invested $208 million in the 355-acre Alabama Shipyard through a qualified opportunity fund — an investment vehicle that allows investors to defer or eliminate capital gains taxes by reinvesting profits into distressed communities designated as opportunity zones. The program was created under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to spur economic growth in low-income areas. Since its launch, more than $100 billion has been invested in opportunity zones nationwide, funding projects that include housing, manufacturing and energy development on former industrial sites and in struggling downtowns. There are over 8,700 federally designated opportunity zones nationwide, including 72 in Connecticut. CapZone was founded in 2018 to take advantage of the opportunity zone program. It invests long-term capital through qualified opportunity funds in projects within low-income census tracts tied to national priorities such as infrastructure, workforce development and defense readiness. The firm has made four investments since its founding in a range of areas including multifamily housing and data centers, according to Al Puchala, the company’s president. Last year, CapZone launched its United Submarine Alliance (USA) Fund, a private equity opportunity zone fund formed in partnership with the U.S. Navy. In September 2024, the fund purchased the 112-year-old Alabama Shipyard, now renamed the Mobile Naval Yard, which is being redeveloped into a modern facility expected to produce one Columbia-class and two Virginia-class submarines. Austal USA, a subsidiary of Australian shipbuilder Austal, invested $150 million in the fund as a limited partner after receiving a $152 million Navy contract to convert the facility. The remaining $58 million came from two other limited partners — an insurance company and a foundation — and will help attract private-sector manufacturers and suppliers to the site, Puchala said. Former Navy Secretary Carlos del Toro described the partnership as “leveraging the power of public and private investment” to strengthen the nation’s maritime industrial base. Puchala said CapZone focuses on defense-related projects because they provide stable, long-term returns as the Department of Defense ramps up industrial capacity in response to growing threats from China and Russia. The U.S. defense budget for 2024 was $874 billion, reflecting an 18% increase since 2020, according to Macrotrends. “We believe it’s not only the right thing to do, but it’s good business,” Puchala said. “It’s good business because now we have a demand signal coming out of the government.” The opportunity zone program — criticized by some for failing to spur enough investment in struggling communities — got a boost this year from new changes adopted by Congress under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed in July 2025. The updates make the program permanent, extend tax deferral benefits, and give investors more flexibility and stronger incentives to put money into qualified opportunity funds. Those who reinvest capital gains can now delay paying taxes on those gains for up to five years, or until they sell the investment. After five years, investors get a 10% tax break on the deferred gain, and if they hold the investment for at least 10 years, any new profits earned within the fund are tax-free. Certain rural projects qualify for an even larger tax break after five years. Puchala said the program incentivizes investment in underserved areas, but the projects still need to provide a solid return to investors. “The tax break serves as an added return,” he said.

Investing in infrastructure

Puchala co-founded CapZone in 2018 with his wife, Kimberly Lake, brother-in-law, Charles “Chip” Lake, and Jonathan Ewert, after serving as CEO of Capitol Peak Asset Management, a Washington, D.C.-based fund manager. Kimberly Lake, CapZone’s chairwoman and general counsel, previously held the same roles at Capitol Peak. Chip Lake, the firm’s chief financial officer, is also a managing director at New York private equity firm Signal Partners. Ewert, a private equity investor, serves as CEO of CapZone Analytics, a technology and data subsidiary that supports the firm’s investment activities. Puchala said the partners founded CapZone out of their family office to focus on opportunity zones because the program encourages long-term investment in areas that need revitalization. “We like the idea of long-term investments for things that are more at the infrastructure layer,” he said. “You really have a situation where you’re supporting your neighbors, and you’re also bringing in funds into neighborhoods that really haven’t been invested in.” CapZone has backed other qualified opportunity funds, but the USA Fund marks the first time it has launched one of its own. In recent years, the firm has invested in several multifamily housing projects through partnerships with other fund managers. The firm partnered with 18 Squared Capital Partners to invest in the Residences at Fort Trumbull, a 203-unit apartment complex near General Dynamics Electric Boat in New London. In July 2022, it joined Tocqueville Asset Management to back a planned 240-unit Veterans Villa apartment complex in Colorado Springs, Colorado. CapZone plans to establish additional opportunity funds tied to the defense industrial base as Washington seeks to expand the nation’s military infrastructure, said Ivan Shyr, CapZone’s managing director. “We think this is scalable,” Shyr said. “If you look at the trends in terms of the defense industrial base — capacity, production, resiliency — it’s been underinvested for the last 20 years.” Puchala said the Trump administration’s support of the opportunity zone program through the One Big Beautiful Bill should open up additional investment opportunities by making the program permanent. “That’s a big deal,” Puchala said.