Developing Affordable Housing with EB-5

The Capstone team worked with McCormack Baron Salazar (MBS), a leading national developer of low- and mixed-income housing, to ascertain the viability of securing funding from the EB-5 immigrant investor program to urban residential development. The EB-5 program, administered by the United States Customs and Immigration Service, awards permanent residence visas to immigrants and their families in exchange for qualifying investments in job-creating enterprises. A number of real-estate projects have begun to use the program in recent years, but the job creation requirements – 10 jobs per $500,000 investment – have inhibited widespread adoption by developers of residential properties. The team performed extensive research into the legal and regulatory context of the EB-5 program, investigating compatibility with MBS’ business model through a series of interviews with developers and intermediaries. Project results included recommendations on how MBS can administer, structure, and attract EB-5 financing for specific upcoming development projects.