Opportunity Zones are top of mind in the real estate industry today, with funds raising north of a billion dollars.

But Ram Realty Services’ CEO Casey Cummings isn’t buying in. “I don’t see the potential that other buyers are seeing,” said Cummings, whose Palm Beach Gardens company invests in distressed properties across the Southeast.

“Anyone who has [Opportunity Zone properties] for development thinks they’re sitting on gold, but if you are trying to underwrite and make sense of the project with today’s rents and costs, it’s very challenging for these areas,” he said.

Opportunity Zones were among the topics Cummings discussed with The Real Deal‘s publisher Amir Korangy in a fireside chat during Urban Land Institute’s West Palm Beach Development and Investment Forum on Friday at the Hilton West Palm Beach.

As a developer and investor in retail and multifamily developments across the Southeast, Cummings spoke more about the broader real estate market than about West Palm Beach. Ram Realty specifically focuses on distressed and value-add properties in high-growth markets like West Palm Beach, Charlotte, and Atlanta.

In South Florida, the company owns Mainstreet at Midtown in Palm Beach Gardens, a mixed-use project on about 47 acres with 96,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space and 225 luxury condominiums. It also owns Indigo Station, a project with 7,675 square feet of retail and 226 apartments in Deerfield Beach.

Despite owning retail and a mall in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Cummings sees the broader retail market facing greater challenges. But he believes there are still some good opportunities in the asset class, especially with the right mix, such as grocery stores and fast casual restaurants.