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Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

Yes, EB-5 looks to be contracting, and developers aren't happy





From the article:
“Investors at the $1.8 million level are going to be few and far between,” said Allison Berman, the managing director and general counsel of Greystone’s EB-5 division. “Projects that are done in Los Angeles, downtown Seattle, Manhattan — those projects are going to have to compete for few investors at the $1.8 million level. The difficulty of finding the capital is going to make EB-5 much less attractive to those developers.”

A major developer who has relied on EB-5 financing in the past explained the impact of the updates in even starker terms. “There are a number of developers around whose whole business model relies on EB-5,” said the developer, who declined to be named in connection with the program. “People like that are going to be basically out of business.”

The Real Estate Board of New York had a similar prediction. “New changes to the [EB-5] program will slow important economic development projects across the city by making it more difficult to secure this financing, raising serious questions about the program’s viability moving forward,” said newly installed REBNY president James Whelan.
And a quote from Michael Gibson, who advises investors:
“The biggest problem our program faces is one of transparency,” Gibson explained. “Try to find out any information on a regional center, and you can’t. There’s no accountability or oversight and no information on who they approve and who they deny. It’s unacceptable.”

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