EB-5 Projects Should Focus on Investor Security, Not Celebrity

With more than 100 EB-5 Regional Centers operating in the US today, investors have many options in selecting a project.  As an investor, it can be easy to be intrigued by projects that are marketed by celebrities and athletes, or those that have famous sponsors, without looking deep enough into the project to ensure that the project itself is secure.  In fact, that is often why some Regional Centers do such glamorous promotions for their projects.  If their projects are lacking in substance and security, the only way the Regional Centers can attract investors is through heavy marketing. So, what should prospective EB-5 investors do?  They should thoroughly examine projects for the two things that are most important in EB-5-- investment security and job creation—and make certain that these two key elements are well-planned and secure.

An example of a solid project was the Jay Peak Phase I project, offered recently by Vermont Agency of Community Development EB-5 RC.  Combining a solid business plan, stable project, and realistic job creation projections, this project held the key features that EB-5 investors should look for.  For current projects, Cleveland International Fund Regional Center’s (“CiF”) Flats East Bank Project is impressive to experts.  CiF is completing a three-month promotional road show in China where it marketed this project. Hundreds of interested investors were intrigued by the many aspects of security built in to this project, as well as the high level of government participation, and a clear, feasible job creation model.  This could very well be the most desirable EB-5 project on the market today. Projects such as these remind investors and experts alike what is really important in selecting an EB-5 project—security.  In all, investors are wise to do due diligence on a project before investing, and not rely on marketing gimmicks to persuade them to make an unsafe decision about their family’s future.  Instead, investors should look to projects such as Jay Peak Phase I and Flats East Bank, which have been designed with security and reliability—not glamour—in mind.