EB-5 Program Regional Centers Have Been Re-authorized until 2015. EB-5 Regional Centers play an important role in raising EB-5 financing for new business development, and there has been some concern among investors and project developers that the federal regulations authorizing EB-5 regional centers were set to expire on September 30,…
On August 27, 2012, the California Department of Corporations adopted a new Rule 206.204.9, which was intended to encourage capital investment in private investment funds by providing an exemption from investment adviser registration requirements for the managers of these funds. However, the new Rule imposes so many new requirements that…
Buying or selling a hotel operating under a brand name requires special attention – the existing franchise agreement will be assumed, terminated or modified in some way, which will have a significant and lasting impact on the value of the hotel. The JMBM Global Hospitality Group® has represented buyers and…
Thank you to my partner, Marta Fernandez, a Labor & Employment lawyer at JMBM, who is my co-author for this article. In the article, we will share some of our hotel-specific insights concerning the key labor and employment issues that the seller and buyer should address as part of their…
The Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development is actively communicating with EB-5 stakeholders to address concerns raised with the new procedures for designating “Targeted Employment Areas.” We met with Brook Taylor and Mather Kearney of the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (known as “GoBiz”) on May…
This article was first published by Hotel Business on May 21, 2012 Four years after the collapse of the traditional financing markets for new hotel developments, most hotel developers are still struggling to find the necessary financing to fill the capital stack required to build new hotels. Even for developers…
California has adopted new policies that will deny EB-5 financing too many projects. On April 30, 2012, the California Department of Business, Transportation and Housing Agency released a bombshell that will have substantial negative effects on California businesses seeking to raise financing through the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program. In…
Since the release of its “Tenant Occupancy” Notice on February 17, 2012, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has begun issuing Requests for Evidence on pending regional center applications and exemplar I-526 petitions that involve “tenant occupancy models”. These Requests for Evidence articulate a new USCIS policy to reject…
Why EB-5 financing is important to hotel developers now: Financing for new hotel development is still in short supply, even for experienced hotel developers. As a result, many hotel developers are exploring the EB-5 financing program as an alternative to traditional financing sources. The EB-5 investor visa program offers non-U.S.…
An immigrant investor has two primary objectives when shopping for an EB-5 project — to minimize the immigration risk and to minimize the investment risk. No immigrant wants to move to the U.S. under a conditional green card (that requires them to generate jobs in the U.S.), buy a house,…