The Board of Directors of Invest in the USA (IIUSA) announced on Thursday, May 17 the departure of Peter Joseph as Executive Director of IIUSA - the national trade association for the EB-5 Regional Center Program. Under his leadership, IIUSA grew to represent a vast majority of capital flowing through the EB-5 Program. As the industry's leading membership organization, IIUSA represents more than 260 federally designated EB-5 Regional Centers across the country, serving 47 states/territories.

Separately, JDS and Chetrit Group are seeking $130 million in EB-5 financing for their 10-acre Miami River project. When completed, the development is slated to hold nearly 1,700 units, 330 hotel rooms and over 250,000 square feet of retail space. George Washington Immigration Group was tapped to raise the capital.

To receive $65 million in New Market Tax Credit allocations from the U.S. Department of Treasury, the NYCRC was required to demonstrate a mission and track record of providing investment capital for low income communities.  Since its designation in 2008 by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the NYCRC has secured over $1.5 billion of EB-5 capital for twenty-one economic development projects.

Applications under EB-5 visa in the US—also popularly known as 'visa for cash'—have more than tripled in the last four years. Indian applications for EB-5 in 2014 stood at 111, and while 2017 numbers are not available country-wise, it is expected to be around 500 to 550. The spurt in Indian visa applications is due to the Trump administrations proposed clampdown on H1B visas.

Cape Coral City Council approved the $130 million Village Square project back in 2010. $66.5 million of the project comes through the federal government's EB-5 program.

In additional to the $21.5M construction loan, the rest of the capital stack is comprised of private equity and EB-5 capital, totaling $39.5M.

A pair of Hyatt-brand hotels will land on West Century Boulevard outside Los Angeles International Airport, contributing to the expected development boom there. The project is being developed by Westside-based California Real Estate Regional Center, an EB-5 developer.

In February, a federal judge ruled that dozens of foreign investors whose money was misused in an EB-5 fraud scheme in Vermont can reinvest their capital in One Wall Street. According to court documents, One Wall Street's owners have raised at least $186 million in EB-5 funds from 373 investors.

Setting itself apart as an EB-5 industry leader, CanAm Enterprises (CanAm) today announces its 33rd EB-5 loan repayment. To date, more than 1,700 investor-families have received permanent green cards as well as full principal repayment by investing in CanAm's projects.

Founded in 2014 under former Mayor Tomás Regalado and led by attorney Mikki Canton, the center was supposed to inject foreign investment into Miami's economy through a visa program known as EB-5. But the regional center did not generate any money, nor did it produce any visas.

The developers purchased the site from Criterion Group, paying $85 million according to The Real Deal. TRD cited a lawsuit in which the Bassuk Organization and Greystone EB-5 claimed that Criterion had backed out of $230 million in construction financing that they had secured for the site, including a $215 million loan from Mack and $14 million in EB-5 funding.

CDFA Federal Financing Webinar Series: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
June 14, 2018 - 2:00 PM Eastern

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Mariza McKee from Kutak Rock presents on Understanding EB-5 Securities Law.

The EB-5 Program is a federal foreign direct investment, immigration, and regional economic development program that provides access to capital to U.S. businesses and creates American jobs at no expense to the American taxpayer. Use of the program has rapidly gained momentum in the last few years throughout the country, and Missouri is no exception. Matthew Hogan and Kraig Schwigen of CMB Regional Centers and Mariza McKee of Kutak Rock LLP share basics of the program, case studies and considerations for using this valuable tool in Missouri.

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