NYCRC FINANCING Print

$852.5 MILLION OF EB-5 LOANS NOW REPAID IN NEW YORK CITY REGIONAL CENTER OFFERINGS

NEW YORK, NY – October 3, 2022 – The New York City Regional Center (“NYCRC”) is pleased to announce the full repayment of another loan in its private placement EB-5 offerings.  This repayment brings the total amount of EB-5 loan proceeds repaid to $852,500,000. 

Over 5,000 individuals participating in NYCRC EB-5 offerings who have achieved permanent residency in the United States.  A total of 1,829 I-829 petition approvals have enabled 5,291 individuals to secure permanent green cards via NYCRC offerings to date. 

“We are proud to announce that $852.5 million has now been repaid in NYCRC offerings,” said Paul Levinsohn, NYCRC Co-Managing Principal.  “This capital has helped finance important infrastructure and real estate developments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.  We are also certainly gratified to have helped over 5,000 individuals from around the world achieve permanent residency in the United States.  We look forward to assisting many more families in the years to come.”

The NYCRC was approved by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2008 to secure foreign investment for real estate and infrastructure projects under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.  Congress created the EB-5 program to stimulate economic development through foreign investment. The program’s mandate is to use foreign investment to spur job creation while simultaneously affording eligible foreign investors the opportunity to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. The NYCRC was the first EB-5 regional center approved in New York City. 

Over the past 14 years, NYCRC-managed funds have put $1.57 billion of capital to work across a broad spectrum of infrastructure and real estate projects in New York City.  Much of this capital has been invested in underserved areas in need of long-term economic growth.  Examples include:

  • $811 million to finance ground-up, redevelopment, and infrastructure projects in Brooklyn, including seven projects totaling $383 million in the Brooklyn Navy Yard;
  • $108.5 million to finance ground-up and redevelopment projects in Washington Heights (an Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone); and,
  • $220 million to finance ground-up construction in the Bronx.

“The NYCRC has been an important source of economic development financing in areas requiring significant investment,” said NYCRC Co-Managing Principal George L. Olsen. “Capital from NYCRC offerings have created jobs for New Yorkers and enabled thousands of individuals to achieve permanent residency in the U.S.”

The NYCRC announced the completion of project construction in 19 of its offerings to date.  These completed projects successfully utilized NYCRC EB-5 financing to assist in the construction of over 3.8 million square feet of new development and renovation as well as critical infrastructure initiatives.  Examples of projects utilizing EB-5 capital from NYCRC-managed funds include the following:

  • A new Wi-Fi infrastructure network in New York City’s subway stations; 
  • Redevelopment of a new cargo and animal care facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport;
  • New soundstages and production support space at Steiner Studios, New York City’s largest film and television studio;
  • Fresh Direct’s new headquarters in the South Bronx;
  • Redevelopment of multiple unused buildings and surrounding infrastructure upgrades in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City’s largest industrial park;
  • A new hotel and medical office complex in Washington Heights; 
  • A new Wegman’s supermarket and industrial buildings in Brooklyn;
  • Expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx; and,
  • Construction of the city-wide LinkNYC street-level Wi-Fi network.

Since 2016, the United States Department of Treasury has made four separate awards totaling $165 million in New Market Tax Credit allocations to a NYCRC-managed entity. To receive a New Market Tax Credit allocation, the NYCRC was required to demonstrate a mission and long-term track record of investment in low-income communities. 

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