NYCRC FINANCING Print

NEW YORK, NY – September 9, 2020 – The New York City Regional Center (“NYCRC”) is pleased to announce the full repayment of $42 million to EB-5 investors in its Brooklyn Navy Yard Building 77 offering.  This repayment brings the total amount of loan proceeds repaid to EB-5 investors in its offerings to $412.5 million.  Last month, the NYCRC announced that over 5,000 individuals (EB-5 investors and family members) participating in its offerings have achieved permanent residency in the United States.  A total of 1,744 I-829 petition approvals in NYCRC offerings to date have enabled 5,075 individuals to secure permanent green cards. 

A NYCRC-managed fund provided a $42 million loan to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation to assist with a key phase of redevelopment at the 300-acre Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City’s largest industrial park and one of the most successful urban manufacturing districts in the country.  The loan facilitated the renovation of Building 77, an approximately one-million square foot industrial building and the largest facility in the Navy Yard.  Building 77 once housed the offices of the Commandant, the head officer overseeing the Navy Yard for the United States Navy during WWII.  Building 77’s core systems suffered heavily from years of neglect and exposure to the elements and need substantial renovation. 

Given the building’s importance to the overall redevelopment of the Navy Yard, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation sought funding through the NYCRC to assist with a major restoration and fit-out of the building.  The NYCRC also helped secure funding for a series of infrastructure improvements within the Navy Yard such as new parking, roads, sidewalks, pile foundations, and water and sewer systems.  The redevelopment of the Navy Yard is a key element of the City of New York’s plan to spur economic growth, refurbish its industrial manufacturing sector, and create additional jobs.

“We are proud to announce the full repayment of $42 million of capital to EB-5 investors in this offering,” said Paul Levinsohn, NYCRC Managing Principal.  “Our thanks to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation for their hard work and the continued respect they’ve shown the EB-5 investors.”

About the New York City Regional Center

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 12 years, NYCRC-managed funds have put over $1.5 billion of EB-5 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:

• $767 million to finance ground-up, redevelopment, and infrastructure projects in Brooklyn, including seven projects totaling $339 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 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 infrastructure upgrades.  Examples of completed projects utilizing EB-5 capital from NYCRC-managed funds include the following:

• A new wireless 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;
• City Point retail complex in Downtown Brooklyn;
• A new hotel and medical office complex in Washington Heights; 
• A new Wegman’s supermarket and industrial buildings in Brooklyn; and,
• Expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx.

The United States Department of Treasury has made three separate awards totaling $115 million in New Market Tax Credit allocations to a NYCRC-managed entity. To receive this allocation, the NYCRC was required to demonstrate a mission and long-term track record of investment in low-income communities. 

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