Thread: TX-Pay-for-visa plan could revive Houston's Old Chinatown

Pay-for-visa plan could revive Houston's Old Chinatown
Developer is marketing the area to wealthy foreign investors
By PURVA PATEL Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 18, 2008, 3:39AM
15Comments 2Recommend

Leonardo Carrizo Chronicle
In another effort to redevelop Houston's Old Chinatown east of downtown, Dan Nip is courting foreign investors through a little used visa program.



The answer may be in a little known federal program for wealthy foreign nationals who want to move to the U.S. — the EB-5 visa.

In exchange for a $1 million business investment that creates at least 10 jobs for at least two years, the immigrant gets permanent residency in the U.S., or what's known as a "green card."

For those willing to invest in economically depressed areas, such as Old Chinatown, the investment requirement drops to $500,000.

"For years and years and years we tried to redevelop that area, but for some reason nobody paid attention to it," said Nip, a Houston real estate developer who immigrated from China decades ago. "This program might help us move forward and attract more development there."

Though the EB-5 visa program has been criticized for favoring the wealthy, proponents say it attracts foreign investment and streamlines the process for investors who otherwise may park their money elsewhere.

The federal government's U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services approved the east Houston area as the first local targeted area for the lower investment amounts in April 2007. The area borders U.S. 59 on the west, Preston Street on the north, St. Joseph Parkway on the south and Dowling on the east.

Nip and other silent investors, whom he declined to name, formed Global Century Development Group to market the area to foreign nationals and manage their investments.

The group can't share potential investment projects for the area yet because they haven't been finalized, Nip said.

Of the 31 investment zones approved under the program nationwide, 12 are active. Other approved investments include resorts in Vermont, an office building in New Orleans and dairy farms in South Dakota.

In 2007, such zones drew an estimated $500 million in investments, and that's projected to double to $1 billion this year, according to the immigration services.

The agency couldn't say exactly how many immigrants living in Houston have invested here in nontargeted areas under the program, but immigration attorneys say clients have invested in everything from office buildings to restaurants.


Some call it unfair
Some critics say the so-called "million-dollar visa" is unfair because it essentially allows wealthy immigrants and their families to buy their way into the country.

"It's selling green cards for all intents and purposes," said Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies and author of The New Case Against Immigration: Both Legal and Illegal. "If somebody wants to invest here, more power to them, but we're not some podunk community."

Critics are also quick to point out that the visa program, created in 1990 to attract foreign investment, was rife with abuse in the late 1990s as some investors tried to circumvent job and capital requirements.

But oversight has since gotten more stringent and applicants on conditional green cards must show after two years that they created jobs and invested money before they are granted permanent residency.

The strict requirements of proof, as well as the large investment amounts, have kept the EB-5 program from being used much, attorneys said.

Also, foreign nationals who can afford the investment usually don't have the time to start new businesses in other countries, said Charles Foster, a local immigration attorney.

"If you're sitting in Beijing or Milan or Moscow, there's a huge mental block," said Foster, whose firm helped Nip apply for the designation for Old Chinatown. "How am I going to come to the U.S., set up an active business and hire 10 workers from day one? For many people that's a very impractical thing."

Only 806 gained permanent residency through the program in 2007.

Still, the weak dollar and backlog in processing other types of visas has drawn interest from well-heeled foreign nationals, said Gordon Quan, an immigration attorney in Houston.

And they'll probably find investment zones, such as the new one in Houston, more attractive than the $1 million option since locals such as Nip can come up with the business plans and manage the funds, Quan noted.

Seventy-five percent of all EB-5 investors have come in through programs such as Nip's, according to Citizen and Immigration Services. And 70 percent are from Asia.


Time running out
Nip has long tried to revitalize Old Chinatown, first as president of the Chinatown Community Development Corp., and later as chairman of the the East Downtown Redevelopment Authority, which operates the area as a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone formed in 1999.

A TIRZ is an economic development entity that keeps part of an area's property taxes to reinvest them within the zone.

The area has had some noticeable changes in recent years with the arrival of new town homes and lofts after Minute Maid Park was built.

But it hasn't attracted much retail or commercial business, Nip said, because the area is plagued with utility problems and landowners are pricing their property too high to sell.

Global Century will focus on developing commercial and mixed-use real estate in the area, including hotels, retail, residential and entertainment projects to lure a non-Asian clientele, Nip said. It would be a contrast to New Chinatown in southwest Houston, which caters to the Asian population.

The proposed Dynamo soccer stadium, which the mayor has said he'd like to see privately funded, could be a potential investment, acknowledged Oliver Luck, general manager and president of the Dynamo. He declined further comment.

The investment zone program is set to expire Sept. 30. A bill to extend it for five years has passed the U.S. House but has been held up in the Senate.

purva.patel@chron.com


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/met ... 49744.html

Originally Posted by FedUpinFarmersBranch

Pay-for-visa plan could revive Houston's Old Chinatown
Developer is marketing the area to wealthy foreign investors
By PURVA PATEL Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Aug. 18, 2008, 3:39AM
15Comments 2Recommend

Leonardo Carrizo Chronicle
In another effort to redevelop Houston's Old Chinatown east of downtown, Dan Nip is courting foreign investors through a little used visa program.



The answer may be in a little known federal program for wealthy foreign nationals who want to move to the U.S. — the EB-5 visa.

In exchange for a $1 million business investment that creates at least 10 jobs for at least two years, the immigrant gets permanent residency in the U.S., or what's known as a "green card."

Bad program. God knows what kind of corruption and loopholes are possible with a "visa bribe" program. What if a drug king-pin managed to launder $1 million this way?