The developer of the Panorama Tower in Miami sees the building as a chance for investors to invest in an emerging global city.

The mixed-use project being developed by Florida East Coast Realty (FECR) will feature an 83-story tower with 821 residences and 128 corporate suites.

It will be the tallest building in Miami upon completion. Some of the funding for the project will come from the federal EB-5 investor visa program, in which Chinese citizens are very active.

"The market in Miami is really a tremendous market base," said Tibor Hollo, CEO of FECR. He said Panaroma Tower was a "poster child" for the EB-5 program.

"From the standpoint of investors, not only Chinese but any foreign investor, there are very important reasons why Miami is becoming a very credible area.

"It's becoming a global city," Hollo added. "Of all the global cities or 'entrance cities' like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc, Miami is the cheapest. But there are other excellent points that the city now has in its favor."

Plans call for nearly 100,000 square feet of medical office space and a teaching facility, more than 50,000 square feet for high-end retail shops and a 208-unit hotel.

On Oct 20, FECR announced that it is accepting applications for funding through Miami's regional EB-5 center.

EB-5 gives immigrants an alternative way to obtain a visa. It was created in 1990 by the US Congress to help stimulate the economy through job creation and foreign investment.

With a minimum investment of $1 million - or $500,000 in low-employment or rural areas - an EB-5 investor must create at least 10 full-time jobs through a project. In return, the investor is eligible for permanent US residency.

Panorama Tower is the largest property along Brickell Avenue, one of Miami's busiest thoroughfares, and will be the tallest building on the Eastern Seaboard south of New York City.

To help finance the project, FECR secured a $340 million construction loan from Wells Fargo in March. It is the largest construction loan in Dade County history, according to a March 5 report from the Daily Business Review of South Florida.

Hollo said FECR has agreed to take a maximum of 3 percent of the total cost of funding for the project through the EB-5 investor program. That sum could approach $50 million, he said.

Hollo said his firm has received numerous inquiries from attorneys on behalf of interested parties, as well as direct calls from Chinese participants interested in EB-5 investment through the Panorama Tower development.

"We already have some Chinese investors in other deals of ours who have purchased from us, so the ice has been broken already, so to say," Hollo said.

As a result, a line of communication has opened between his company and the Miami regional center for EB-5 investment.

Mikki Canton, the managing director of Miami's Office of International Development and the City of Miami EB-5 Regional Center, said that the regional office has seen plenty of interest from Chinese and Asian investors since the organization's establishment in May 2014.

"I see more substantive interest from China and Asia, and I see tremendous interest growth," Canton said. "Asking good, intelligent questions, shopping around very carefully, checking out the investment projects, etc.

"I think from now on, especially when we get our Chinatown going you're going to have the Chinese culture and population be a large percent eventually of what we have in South Florida," she told China Daily.

The Panorama tower is Miami's first EB-5 project and is expected to bring more than 1,300 construction jobs to the city. The development also requires almost 200 management employees and 800 tenant employees, in addition to bringing 220 visiting students to the area.

Construction began in 2014, and FECR expects to complete work on the site by mid-2017.

"We have our own funds," Hollo said. "Usually the processing time until any of these EB-5 applications comes to fruition is 16 to 18 months, and that could be even longer."

FECR is funding the project in its entirety and expects to receive its EB-5 funds close to the time it receives a certificate of occupancy for the Panorama Tower, Hollo said.

FECR has built a number of projects including single-family homes, residential and commercial high-rises, government buildings, retail centers and warehouse complexes. Hollo started the company more than 60 years ago.

The company also has developments in New York and Las Vegas.

In 2014, 8,308 Chinese nationals were issued visas through the EB-5 program, an increase of 1,413, or 20.5 percent, according to data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the agency within the Homeland Security Department that oversees the program.

In 2013, 6,895 Chinese nationals were issued EB-5 visas, USCIS data showed. The US issues 10,000 EB-5 visas annually.

Since 1990, EB-5 investors have created more than 57,000 jobs and have added close to $9 billion to the US economy.

jackfreifelder@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily USA 11/16/2015 page2)