eb5exclusive

A number of underdeveloped neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., are about to receive millions of dollars from the EB-5 visa program.

The district’s Shaw neighborhood is on the verge of getting a long-awaited Giant supermarket and a mixed-use development, according to the Washington Post. There are three EB-5 regional centers operating in the nation’s capital, helping to fund various projects throughout the district.

The EB-5 visa program was started in 1990 as a way to encourage foreign investment in U.S. businesses. If foreign nationals invest $1 million (or in some specially designated areas, $500,000) and that investment creates or preserves 10 jobs they become green card eligible.

EB-5 regional centers were created shortly after the initial program started to help better direct and manage foreign investments. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS), an EB-5 regional center can be “any economic unit, public or private, which is involved with the promotion of economic growth, improved regional productivity, job creation, and increased domestic capital investment.”

Angel Brunner, who has a great deal of experience in Washington, is involved in running one such EB-5 regional center that is helping to fund the Giant supermarket.

“We provide capital that can put projects over the finish line,” she told the news source.

Brunner also said that she expects the supermarket and mixed-use facility to directly create 400 jobs and indirectly bring about 1,500 additional jobs to the area.

“Grocery stores are ideal projects, especially in Washington,” she told the Post. “Washington residents have half the number of grocery stores that our suburban neighbors have. Any time there is a grocery store in play, it’s a good opportunity for us.”

Armond Spikell, a partner at Roadside Development, which is using EB-5 money to help fund its $260 million development in Northwest D.C., said that the EB-5 program provides early stage equity. This type of equity is difficult to get for new construction projects in underdeveloped areas, according to Spikell. After doing some research on the EB-5 visa program, Spikell thinks it mades sense.

“If we’re going to grow immigration, why not do it in a way that brings jobs and investment to the country?” he told the news provider.

Interest in the EB-5 visa program has increased greatly within the past few years. Only 1,443 EB-5 visas were issued in the fiscal year 2008, compared to 4,218 in fiscal year 2009.