1. EB-­‐5
Immigrant
Investment
Program
for
Texas
Dandan
(Danna)
Zou
President
and
CEO,
Texas
Investment
Regional
Center
Vice
Chair
–
Greater
Austin
Chinese
Chamber
of
Commerce
Chairwoman
–
GACCC
International
Investment
Committee
1

2. Agenda
— Texas
Investment
Regional
Center
(TexIRC)
— What
is
the
EB-­‐5
program?
— How
does
the
EB-­‐5
program
work?
— Who
invests
in
EB-­‐5
projects?
— What’s
in
it
for
Central
Texas
Businesses?
— How
can
Texas
Investment
Regional
Center
(TexIRC)
help
you?
— Current
Project
2

3. Texas Investment Regional Center
(TexIRC)
Matching
with
strong
in
Texas
3

4. USCIS EB-5 Program
— Attract
and
encourage
foreign
investment
in
US
— Heavy
Focus
on
job
creation
4

5. USCIS EB-5 Program
Quick History
— EB-­‐5
category
created
in
1990
— 10,000
EB-­‐5
green
cards
available
each
year
— 3,000
set
aside
for
regional
centers
(RC)
— Total
visas
issued:
— FY
2011
–
3,805
— Q1
FY
2012
–
1,293
— Slow
start;
Congress
added
regional
center
pilot
program
in
1993
— Started
to
grow
in
mid-­‐1990s
5

6. USCIS EB-5 Program
Quick History
— EB-­‐5
program
is
now
on
the
increase
especially
through
regional
centers
— 90%-­‐95%
EB-­‐5
visas
obtained
through
RCs
— 194
approved
RCs
as
of
June
2012
stakeholder
meeting
-­‐Just
two
years
ago,
there
were
only
114
— 20
approved
RCs
in
2008
6

7. How does EB-5 Program Work?
— Obtain
Regional
Center
Designation
— Investors
invest
in
projects
through
Regional
Center
— Investors
File
for
Conditional
Residency
and
move
to
U.S.
— 2
years
later,
file
for
permanent
green
card
if:
1) the
capital
is
still
in
place
and
2) 10
jobs
have
been
maintained
per
$500k
investment
7

8. 3 Components of EB-5 Program
Regional
Center
Designation
Investor
Marketing
Regional
Center
Operations
8

9. Who invests in EB-5 Program?
9

10. Who invests in EB-5 Program?
— Chinese
allocated
21%
of
their
assets
to
real
estate.
Global
average
is
14%
*
— Chinese
interests
in
overseas
real
estate
and
immigration
are
getting
stronger.
— Drop
in
housing
prices
in
US
— Steady
RMB
have
created
an
opportunity
for
wealthy
Chinese
to
invest
in
real
estate
in
the
US.
*Asia-­‐Pacific
Wealth
Report
2008
by
Merrill
Lynch
and
Capgemini
10

11. The Wealthy in China
— China
has
960,000
‘millionaires’
with
personal
wealth
of
10
million
Yuan
or
more
(USD$1.5
million)
**
— Up
85,000
individuals
or
9.7%
year
over
year
— 2009
-­‐
825,000
millionaires
— 2010
-­‐
875,000
millionaires
— China
also
has
60,000
‘super
rich’
with
100
million
Yuan
or
more,
up
9.0%
over
last
year
— 4
out
of
5
Chinese
millionaires
are
considering
sending
their
children
to
study
overseas,
with
the
US
and
UK
their
preferred
destinations.
— Report
also
indicates
that
about
27%
Chinese
billionaires
have
been
involved
in
emigration
investment.***
**
The
GroupM
Knowledge
-­‐
Hurun
Wealth
Report
2011
http://www.hurun.net/hurun/listreleaseen548.aspx
***
“China's
Private
Wealth
Report
2011”
issued
by
China
Merchants
Bank
11

12. Why do investors want EB-5?
— Permanent
Residency
in
the
USA
— Access
to
good
schools
for
their
children
— Growing
cost
of
living
in
Asia
— Uncertain
political
climate
in
China
— Half
of
Chinese
millionaires
polled
in
2011
said
they
are
thinking
of
emigrating,
mostly
to
North
America*
*Hurun
Research
Institute
and
Bank
of
China
report,
Nov.
2011
12

13. Why does the USA
want EB-5?
— Investment
Capital
and
Jobs!!!
— Since
its
inception
in
1990,
EB-­‐5
has
been
responsible
for:
— 46,810
jobs
— more
than
$2.3B
in
investments
— all
at
no
cost
to
the
government
— Congress
and
Senate
both
voted
to
extend
the
program
for
3
more
years
with
bipartisan
support
13

14. What’s in it for Central TX Business?
— Businesses
considering
EB-­‐5
as
alternative
capital,
sometimes
the
only
source
of
capital
— EB-­‐5
may
be
the
answer
for
many
investment
projects
without
traditional
capital
funding
— Job
creation
is
mandatory
requirement
for
EB-­‐5
— Texas
is
currently
behind
East
and
West
Coasts
in
EB-­‐5
deals
14

15. Why use a Regional Center?
— Regional
Centers
(RCs)
bring
investors
to
deals
— Potentially
bring
manufacturing
projects
from
China
— The
Regional
Center
Pilot
Program
allows
$500k
minimum
qualifying
investment
if
invested
in
a
TEA
or
Rural
Area
vs.
$1M
minimum
— TEA
designation
–
area
with
unemployment
of
at
least
150%
of
national
average.
— Rural
Area
–
geographic
area
outside
of
an
MSA
and
in
a
town
having
a
population
of
20,000
or
less.
— RC
allows
indirect
job
creation
to
be
counted
15

16. What projects are a good fit
for EB-5 Capital?
— $25M
to
$125M
— Job
Generators
–
need
10
perm.
jobs
per
EB-­‐5
investor
— Public
and
Private
partnerships
— “Shovel
ready”
projects
— Business
plan
— Economic
analysis
that
will
satisfy
USCIS
— Located
in
a
TEA
or
Rural
Area
— Ongoing
support
— New
high
net-­‐worth
immigrants
need
housing
— Support
and
services
for
new
immigrants
16

17. Important Sectors for EB-5
— Hotels
— Health
Care
— Manufacturing
— Senior
Living
and
Assisted
Living
Facilities
— Charter
Schools
— Much
more
…
…
17

18. Who is using EB-5 Funding?
— Developers
for
Marriott,
Hilton,
Hyatt,
Starwood
— City
Market
at
O
Street-­‐
$225M
mixed
use
project
in
Washington
D.C.,
$15M
in
EB-­‐5
funding
— Hutchinson
Medical
Office
Complex–part
of
the
42
acre
multi-­‐building
office
campus
in
the
Bronx
— West
Village-­‐Dallas,
20
story
$100M
mixed
use
project,
$64M
in
EB-­‐5
funding
— Solaris
Project
–
a
$375M
mixed
use
project
in
Vail,
Colorado,
$80M
in
EB-­‐5
funding
18

19. EB-5 First Lien
Capital Stack Example
Project
Cost
$30M
Private
Equity
25%
$7.5M
EB-­‐5
Loan
75%
$22.5M
19

20. EB-5 Second Lien
Capital Stack Example
Project
Cost
$50M
Private
Equity
25%
$12.5M
Construction
Loan
40%
$20M
EB-­‐5
2nd
Lien
35%
$17.5M
Total
Debt
75%
$37.5M
20

21. How can TexIRC Help You?
— Established
to
help
fund
activities
in
Texas,
with
focus
on
central
Texas
— Help
configure
projects
so
they
are
best
suited
for
EB-­‐5
program
— Committed
to
the
highest
level
of
integrity
and
ethics
to
all
stakeholders:
— Investors
— Developers/business
owners
— USCIS
— TexIRC
is
focused
on
the
following
markets:
— Commercial
real
estate
development
— Accommodation
— Restaurants
— Manufacturing
— Senior
Living
21

22.
Q&A
Texas
Investment
Regional
Center
(TexIRC)
www.TexIRC.com
512-­‐850-­‐6568
Dandan
(Danna)
Zou
President
and
CEO,
Texas
Investment
Regional
Center
Vice
Chair
–
Grater
Austin
Chinese
Chamber
of
Commerce
Chairwoman
–
GACCC
International
Investment
Committee
22