Towers Rise on EB-5 Funds

By ELIOT BROWN

One of New York’s most well-known developers is planning to finance two high-end Manhattan towers partly through a visa program that gives green cards to foreigners who invest in certain U.S. projects.

The Durst Organization aims to raise about $260 million through the “EB-5” visa program, which has become increasingly popular in recent years. Durst, like many other developers, has turned to it because of its difficulty in finding other forms of construction financing.

Certain types of loans that developers formerly relied on have become “very expensive and very hard to do in rental property,” says Gary Rosenberg, an attorney for Durst.

One of the projects would be a 41-story glass tower at Sixth Avenue and 31st Street with a mix of apartments, office space and retail. Plans for the other, 625 W. 57th St., call for a pyramid-shaped apartment building designed by avant-garde architect Bjarke Ingels Group.

The EB-5 program—so named because it is the fifth category of employment-related immigration visas—allows foreign citizens to secure green cards when they invest at least $500,000 per family in projects that create at least 10 jobs per investor.

Durst’s use of the once-obscure program shows how it has vaulted into the mainstream. Applications by foreign investors have jumped to 6,041 in fiscal year 2012 from 486 in 2006, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which administers the program.

Local projects that have used the program include the $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards apartment and arena project in Brooklyn developed by Forest City Ratner Cos. and Extell Development Co.’s 34-story International Gem Tower on West 47th Street.

In the past, “you had to explain it to people—people didn’t believe that the program was around, now it’s a lot more popular and people have heard of it.”

Of course, the program has risks, particularly for investors. Should a project stall or otherwise fail to create the needed jobs, investors lose their money and a shot at a green card.

Citizenship and Immigration Services has stepped up scrutiny on projects, though many in the industry have called for legislative reforms. Critics say foreign investors can have difficulty screening the projects’ worth.

The EB-5 program was started in the 1990s, but it only took off during the downturn, when banks and other lenders pulled back on making loans to construction projects. Developers searching for alternatives found that EB-5 investors typically make loans at reasonable interest rates—because their focus is on immigrating, not on making a financial return—and were still willing to fund projects during the downturn.

With the growing demand, it has morphed from being used largely by developers of small and mid-size hotel and mixed-use projects to builders of prominent towers. Durst, for example, is known for building such skyscrapers as the Bank of America tower at Bryant Park.

Mr. Rosenberg says traditional banks are making smaller loans than they used to for development projects. Also, interest rates are too high on a type of supplementary financing known as mezzanine debt that used to be more widely available, he says.

Durst is working with a Florida-based private company, US Immigration Fund LLC, to raise the EB-5 financing. The company typically finds investors in China, Mr. Rosenberg says.

Mr. Rosenberg says Durst is hoping to raise $80 million in EB-5 financing for the tower at Sixth Avenue and 31st Street, known as 855 Sixth Ave., which represents about 19% of its total cost. Investors have made commitments for about half of that $80 million, he says.

Durst is working on hiring a construction contractor for the building, slated to have 299 luxury apartments and 76 reserved for low-income families. A brochure from the US Immigration Fund says Durst projects rents will be as high as $8,300 a month for a two-bedroom.

Durst has begun excavation work on the other building, on 57th Street and the West Side Highway, and plans to start raising money soon. The developer hopes to raise $180 million in EB-5 financing for that project.

Write to Eliot Brown at [email protected]

A version of this article appeared May 28, 2013, on page A20 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Towers Rise on EB-5 Funds.

EB-5融资建纽约摩天大楼

编辑：ELIOT BROWN

纽约最知名开发商德斯特集团计划通过投资美国的外籍投资人投资移民签证计划为其在曼哈顿的两个高端住宅公寓项目融资。

德斯特集团计划通过近年来受热捧的“EB-5″签证计划为其新项目融资2.6亿美金。正如许多其他地产开发商一样，德斯特集团也面临着项目开发建设的其他形式融资难问题。

德斯特集团的律师Gary Rosenberg表示，以前地产开发商的一般做法是依靠“目前已变得越来越昂贵、且租赁公寓项目更难前期融资”的一些建筑贷款来开发项目。

其中一个项目于就是位于曼哈顿第六大道与31街之间的42层高端公寓建筑。该栋公寓建筑大楼含底层零售、办公区域以及住宅公寓。其他计划中的项目也包括57街西625号的金字塔形高端公寓建筑。该项目将由前卫建筑设计公司Bjarke Ingels Group负责设计。

EB-5投资移民签证–即根据就业类移民签证有关的第五类签证—允许外籍公民每个家庭通过投资至少50万美金到项目，并且该项目将为每个投资家庭创造至少10个就业机会，以此该投资人及其家庭可获得美国绿卡。

德斯特集团对这种之前鲜为人知的融资方案的使用证明了EB-5已逐渐进入公众视野并逐渐成为主流。根据负责该签证方案的美国移民局数据显示，通过该方案申请移民的外籍投资人已经从2006年的486名攀升到2012年的 6,041。

纽约市已经使用了EB-5投资移民资金的项目包括价值49亿的大西洋别墅、布鲁克林体育馆以及Extell 开发公司的位于西47街的34层的国际宝石大厦等。

在过去“你得耐心和人们解释这个投资移民计划，因为他们对它一点都不了解。但现在不一样了，越来越多的人们听说或知道这个计划。”

当然，这个投资移民计划也是有风险的，尤其是对于投资人而言。如果项目延期或没能创造所需的就业，则投资人会人财两空，可能绿卡拿不到、投资本金也拿不回来。

移民局已经加强了对项目的审查和监管，很多业内人士呼吁立法改革。但也有批评人士表示，对于外籍投资人而言，他们筛选评估项目还是存在困难。

EB-5投资移民计划起源于1990年，但直到最近几年经济萧条期间，银行和其他放贷机构收紧了项目建筑贷款。因此，开发商不得不寻找其他替代方案。而EB-5则正是一个不错的选择，其贷款利息较为合理—这是因为投资人本身更关注的是移民和获得绿卡，而不是作为投资获取收益，而且即使在经济衰退期间也愿意为项目融资。

随着需求的日益增长，EB-5也已经由原来的中小型酒店、混合用地产项目开发商融资使用发展成获得众多地产巨头的青睐。如德斯特集团。作为纽约的地产巨鳄，德斯特开发了美国银行的总部所在地布莱恩公园一号。

Rosenberg先生表示，较之以前，传统银行现在对于地产开发项目目前放贷更少。此外，利率也太高，用的夹层贷款作为补充融资更多。

Rosenberg 补充，德斯特目前正与佛罗里达的一家私人公司–美国移民基金公司合作募集EB-5资金。这个公司主要负责在中国募集投资人。

德斯特希望为其在第六大道855号的公寓项目（位于第六大道与第31街之间）通过EB-5方式募集8000万美金借款，占项目总成本的19%。投资人目前已募集过半。

同时，德斯特集团也正积极寻找建筑商来负责项目施工。该项目含299套豪华公寓以及76个为低收入家庭提供的租赁公寓。根据美国移民基金的项目册显示，德斯特开发的这个项目一套两居室公寓租金预计可达到每月8300美金。

德斯特集团已经开始位于西57街以及西边公路的其他项目施工挖掘工作，并计划很快开始资金募集。开发商希望通过EB-5为本项目融资1.8亿美元。

通过邮件[email protected]联系Eliot Brown 编辑

本报道刊登在《华尔街日报》美国版 2013年5月28日 第20页 标题：Towers Rise on EB-5 Funds EB-5融资建纽约摩天大楼