Oregon has fresh EB-5 Investment Vehicle through new hotel project

A hotel construction project requiring more than US $49.5 million of finance opens up a new investment vehicle for those seeking a green card through the EB-5 program.

The EB-5 program provides foreign nationals investing a minimum of $500,000 into a US project with a green card, on the basis that the project yields at least 10 full time jobs within the first two years of investment.

Developer Homer Williams has already raised $8.5 million from Chinese EB-5 investors interested in backing the Pearl District’s first hotel in order to receive permanent US residency.

This revival in privately-funded development through constructing the Pearl District’s first hotel is a joint venture between Portland developer Homer Williams of Williams & Dame Development, and EB-5 Global.

Williams himself is already accomplished in the world of EB-5 investment, and has previously partnered with various organisations to construct a flagged Marriott hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

This EB-5 project is owned 100% by the investors, and is located in an existing Targeted Economic Area or TEA, meaning that investors are each required to invest $500,000 rather than the usual requirement of $1 million at a minimum, in order to become eligible to receive a green card for themselves and immediate family members.

The EB-5 program currently has only two approved brokers operating with the EB-5 program across the state. With Oregon as a relative newcomer, it is now set to contribute towards the $1.25 billion in investment activity generated in the US through the program in 2011.

The project itself is set to begin construction from January 2013 – the first hotel in the Pearl District, which is said to be one of the largest and most successful urban renewal projects in the United States. Marriott hotels operate in more than 70 countries worldwide, with the Residence Inn brand achieving a 25% revenue premium over its competitors.