New York City Regional Center Announces Repayment

New York, NY, Dec. 22, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The New York City Regional Center (“NYCRC”) is pleased to announce the repayment of its $60 million EB-5 loan used to assist the continued redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City’s largest industrial park.  The borrower of the EB-5 capital was the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation.  The $60 million investment and resulting job creation enabled 359 individuals (investors and family members) to receive permanent residency in the United States under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.      

The $60 million of EB-5 capital helped fund a key phase of redevelopment at the Brooklyn Navy Yard (“Navy Yard”).  The federal government closed the Navy Yard in 1966 and subsequently sold it to the City of New York which reopened it as an industrial complex.  Over the past few years, the City of New York has embarked on the largest expansion of the Navy Yard in 65 years.  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. 

The $60 million loan from the NYCRC provided much needed capital for the renovation of a 215,000 square foot industrial building in the Navy Yard.  The building was previously used as a machine shop for the United States Navy during World War II but had sat vacant for decades.  The project transformed the building, now named the Green Manufacturing Center, into New York City’s leading hub for green manufacturing and sustainable design.  EB-5 capital was also used to assist with surrounding infrastructure improvements in the Navy Yard such as the building of new roads, water and sewer lines, and pile foundations and bulkhead walls to allow for the continued use of dry docks and adjacent berths to support maritime activity in the New York harbor. 

“We are very pleased with the repayment of the $60 million loan to the 120 EB-5 investors in this offering,” said Paul Levinsohn, Managing Principal of the NYCRC. “The NYCRC takes seriously our role in spurring job creation and economic development as well as our responsibility to assist our EB-5 investors and their families begin a new life in America.”

“We are proud that our first loan to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation has been repaid,” added George L. Olsen, Managing Principal of the NYCRC.  “This repayment is a major milestone for the NYCRC and, of course, for our EB-5 investors and their families.” 

The repaid $60 million loan is one of seven NYCRC EB-5 loans totaling $339 million being used for critical projects in the Navy Yard.  Since 2010, EB-5 capital from the NYCRC has directly helped implement a broad range of new construction, infrastructure and building improvements, and the renovation of over 1.2 million square feet of vacant and dilapidated buildings.  Examples of additional NYCRC funding within the Navy Yard include the following:

• $72 million of capital to facilitate the construction and renovation of Building 77, an approximately one million square foot industrial building and the largest facility in the Navy Yard. Building 77’s core systems suffered heavily from years of neglect and exposure to the elements and needed substantial renovation.  EB-5 capital from the NYCRC is assisting with a major restoration and fit-out of the building.
• $65 million of capital to assist with the expansion of Steiner Studios, the largest film and television studio complex in the eastern United States. Capital from the NYCRC facilitated the construction of five new television and commercial soundstages totaling 45,000 square feet as well as the renovation of a historic but vacant seven-story 235,000 square foot building into production and support space within the Navy Yard.
• $80 million of capital to increase the production capacity of Steiner Studios and further reinforce the Navy Yard as a central location for media production in New York City. This capital is helping construct six new soundstages and production support space totaling over 177,000 square feet.  The new facility will contain specialized stage and production space to support the increased demand from film and television companies.
• $12 million of capital to assist with the construction of an 84,000 square foot high-tech manufacturing facility within the Navy Yard called New Lab. The new interdisciplinary manufacturing center includes collaborative work space for digital manufacturers, architects, university researchers, entrepreneurs, and inventors. The new space allows tenants to take their ideas from concept to prototyping to production all under one roof.
• $50 million of capital to assist with the redevelopment of the Admirals Row section of the Navy Yard, an unused, six-acre site situated at the southwest corner of the industrial park.  The project will transform this section of the Navy Yard into a new commercial and industrial center that is important to both the Navy Yard and those communities adjacent to the industrial park.  The project includes the construction of a 74,000 square foot building that will be leased to Wegmans Food Markets Inc.  The new supermarket will provide much needed access to quality food and good-paying jobs to the more than 12,000 residents of the Farragut, Ingersoll, and Walt Whitman public housing complexes adjacent to and nearby the Navy Yard.    

“The NYCRC is providing over $300 million of financing to help the redevelopment of New York City’s largest industrial park and further the Navy Yard’s mission to spur economic development and create new jobs,” said Mr. Levinsohn.

“The redevelopment of the Navy Yard is a key element of the City of New York’s plan to refurbish its industrial manufacturing sector and create additional jobs.  We are pleased to play a role in this effort,” added Mr. Olsen. 

About 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 within Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and the Bronx.  The NYCRC was the first EB-5 regional center approved in New York City and has secured over $1.3 billion of capital for 21 economic development projects throughout the city.   

In addition to projects in the Navy Yard, the NYCRC has provided capital to assist with the redevelopment of the George Washington Bridge Bus Station and the construction of a wireless infrastructure network in New York City’s subway stations.  The NYCRC is providing capital for the redevelopment of a new cargo facility at JFK Airport and the construction of Fresh Direct’s new headquarters in the South Bronx.  NYCRC funding is also being used for the construction of the City Point development in downtown Brooklyn, a new medical office/hotel complex in Washington Heights, and the expansion of the Hutchinson Metro Center in the Bronx.  The NYCRC is securing capital to help fund the construction of LinkNYC, the public-private initiative that is bringing the nation’s largest and fastest public Wi-Fi network to the streets of New York City.  

In addition to fueling economic development in New York City, NYCRC offerings have enabled over 2,400 individuals to become permanent residents of the United States through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program.

For more information about the NYCRC, please visit www.nycrc.com .

About the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program

The EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program is administered by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  The program’s mandate is to use foreign investment to spur job creation while simultaneously affording eligible immigrant investors the opportunity to become lawful permanent residents of the United States. 

New York City Regional Center 1-212-619-1270