A recently published white paper identified the Top 10 Qualifying Rural Areas for EB-5 Investments in the entire United States. EB5AN is pleased to share that two of its projects are located in the top two rural areas.
EB5AN’s Twin Lakes rural EB-5 Project is in the Jefferson, Georgia, micropolitan area. This area was identified as the #1 most attractive rural area for EB-5 investment.
The #2 spot goes to the Breckenridge, Colorado, micropolitan area. This is where EB5AN’s Kindred Resort at Keystone rural EB-5 project is being developed.
This objective, third-party white paper1 by Houston EB5 serves as validation that EB5AN’s projects are ideally located. Houston EB5 is an EB-5 regional center based in Houston, Texas, and is a direct competitor that is unaffiliated with EB5AN.2
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A Closer Look at the Study
EB5AN strongly believes that more transparency and access to better information is always in the best interests of EB-5 investors. We are pleased that Houston EB5 published this independent white paper to provide more data and added context for EB-5 investors considering rural TEA projects.
The analysis relies on a report by Heartland Forward. Heartland is a nonpartisan think tank dedicated to data-based economic solutions and job creation in rural America.
In its report, Heartland ranked the economies of 536 micropolitan areas across the United States. A micropolitan area is a town that has 10,000 to 50,000 residents plus any surrounding area with strong economic ties.
Heartland examined several factors to rank these micropolitan areas:
- employment
- gross domestic product (GDP)
- average annual pay growth
- per capita personal income
- employment at new businesses
- short-term economic development since 2020
Their resulting 2022 list of Most Dynamic Micropolitans was dominated by the Mountain West region. Twelve of the top 25 micropolitans were in Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Nevada.
A micropolitan area, however, does not automatically qualify as an EB-5 rural targeted employment area (TEA). To qualify as a rural TEA, an area must have less than 20,000 residents. Even if a micropolitan area qualifies as a TEA, it may not be suitable for low-risk EB-5 investment. For example, the area may have lower economic activity or be too distant from a larger, urban area.
From the Heartland study, Houston EB5 isolated the rural areas that qualify for TEA status in the EB-5 program. Houston EB5 further filtered for rural areas within 1.5-hour drives of metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) that had populations of 1.5 million or more. According to the white paper, these nearby major MSAs “often offer robust economic opportunities, resources, and infrastructure.”
Using these criteria, Houston EB5 narrowed down Heartland’s top 100 micropolitan areas to the 74 that qualified for rural TEA status. Of those, only 10 were close to major MSAs.
Final ranking was determined based on several factors, which include “economic indicators, growth potential, infrastructure, and regional context.”
The #1 and #2 micropolitans on Houston EB5’s Top 10 Qualifying Rural Areas list are the exact locations of two of EB5AN’s rural TEA projects:
- Jefferson, Georgia, micropolitan area: Twin Lakes Georgia
- Breckenridge, Colorado, micropolitan area: Kindred Resort at Keystone
Below, we will examine each of these areas and their respective EB5AN projects.
#1 Rural TEA: Jefferson, Georgia, Micropolitan Area
The Jefferson, Georgia, micropolitan area saw employment grow by 46.8% between 2015 and 2020. During the same period, the area’s GDP grew by 27.4%.
Employment grew by a staggering 10.6% between September 2020 and September 2021, at the height of the pandemic. Nearly one in 10 employees work for new businesses that are less than five years old.
The county had a 2020 per capita personal income of $52,779. This income is 40% higher than the national average for that year.
Jefferson, Georgia, was #5 on Heartland’s ranking of top micropolitan areas. It is #1 on Houston EB5’s Top 10 Qualifying Rural Areas for EB-5 Investments.
Twin Lakes Georgia EB-5 Project
Cresswind Georgia at Twin Lakes is a rural TEA project in the Jefferson, Georgia, micropolitan area. It is less than 40 miles from the Atlanta metro area, which boasts 6.2 million residents.
Twin Lakes is a 1,300 single-home community for active adults over age 55. It is being built by industry leader Kolter Homes.
Twin Lakes is under construction and fully capitalized. All required EB-5 jobs are already created for all EB-5 investors. The EB-5 loan is secured by a parent company repayment guaranty, and EB-5 investors enjoy many other best-in-class financial and immigration safety features.
Kolter is one of the largest private home developers in the United States. The Kolter Group has invested in projects totaling over $24 billion in expected value. Kolter has developed thousands of single-family homes, condominium units, hotel rooms, and finished land lots in the Southeast. The developer has borrowed billions of dollars over its 25+ year history and has never failed to repay a loan or to complete a project. All EB-5 investments in Kolter projects are in good standing or have been repaid.
Twin Lakes has sold over 580 of its 1,300 homes, with over 440 homes already built and delivered to buyers. The project is expected to generate nearly 7,000 EB-5 eligible jobs by the time the project is finished.
#2 Rural TEA: Breckenridge, Colorado, Micropolitan Area
Between 2015 and 2020, employment declined by 4% in the Breckenridge, Colorado, micropolitan area. However, in the same period, GDP grew 7%, and average annual pay skyrocketed by 34.9%.
New businesses with less than five years of operations make up 15.5% of employers in the area. Nearly one in four employees at these new firms are university graduates.
Between September 2020 and September 2021, employment grew 4.6% in the Breckenridge area, despite that period being in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The county overall had a per capita income of $81,331 in 2020, more than twice the national average.
The Breckenridge, Colorado, micropolitan area was #15 on Heartland’s ranking of top micropolitan areas. It ranked #2 on Houston EB5’s rural EB-5 analysis.
Kindred Resort at Keystone EB-5 Project
Kindred Resort at Keystone is a rural TEA project in the Breckenridge, Colorado, micropolitan area. It is about a one-hour drive from the Denver metropolitan area, which has a population of nearly 3 million residents.
Kindred is a luxury ski-in/ski-out hotel and condominium project. It is located just 55 feet from the main gondola at Keystone Ski Resort. Keystone is the fourth most-visited ski destination in America.
Kindred is already under construction and has created over 800 jobs. The project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs in early 2024. The condominium component of the Kindred project has already sold over 67% of its units; these sales have generated more than $110 million in revenue.
Kindred at Keystone offers investors a secure loan structure with a full equity pledge in the project company that is expected to convert to a senior loan secured by a recorded mortgage on the property after construction completion. It has many other top-tier features that limit the financial and immigration risk to EB-5 investors.
Kindred is managed by a subsidiary of Vail Resorts, a publicly traded corporation (NYSE: MTN) and the largest ski resort operator in the U.S., with over 41 resorts worldwide, including Keystone Ski Resort. In 2022, 20% of American ski visits took place at a Vail Resorts property.
You Can Invest in EB5AN’s Rural TEAs with Confidence
Both Twin Lakes Georgia and Kindred Resort at Keystone are in rural TEAs. Rural TEA status offers EB-5 investors many benefits.
First, TEA investors can invest a lower minimum amount: $800,000 instead of $1,050,000. Second, by investing in a project with rural TEA designation, investors receive faster processing of Form I-526E, the first step in the immigrant application. Finally, rural TEA projects give EB-5 investors access to a special category of set-aside visas. These rural set-aside visas make up 20% of all EB-5 visas. For investors from China and India, these set-aside visas mean bypassing their nations’ EB-5 visa backlogs entirely.
This independent study confirms that EB5AN’s rural TEA projects are in ideal locations for EB-5 investors. As stated in the study, “By focusing on micropolitan areas with resilience, natural amenities, and diversified economies, as well as considering proximity to MSAs, investors can confidently pursue rural EB-5 investments located in strong, growing markets.”
For more information on Twin Lakes Georgia and the Kindred Resort at Keystone, schedule your free one-on-one consultation or email us at info@EB5AN.com.
1Houston EB5’s white paper can be found at https://houstoneb5.com/white-paper-top-10-qualifying-rural-area-for-eb-5-investments/ (last accessed December 6, 2023).
2Houston EB5 is 100% independent from EB5AN, and their website can be found at https://houstoneb5.com/
