N.Y. Navy Yard expansion boosted by green-card program

$125 M Brooklyn Navy Yard expansion boosted by green-card program

4:16 PM, May 10, 2010 ι
By RICH CALDER

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is planning to tap into $125 million in low-interest loans for expansion projects through a federal program that trades green cards for green cash.

The EB-5 program allows foreign investors to invest in job-creating projects in neighborhoods of high unemployment -- like the areas around the Navy Yard -- in exchange for expedited access to green cards, which allow permanent residence in the U.S. Through the program, a person and their immediate family can obtain a green card by investing $500,000 into a project that creates a minimum of 10 jobs.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, “the $125 million from foreigners will be divided into two parts: $60 million from 120 investors that will be used to create light-manufacturing and green jobsâ€