Rocky River: A Compelling Rural EB-5 Project

Rocky River is a 1,120 single-family home community with amenities that is being developed by Kolter Homes. This Cresswind community is an age-restricted, 55+ active adult community in Locust, North Carolina, about 45 minutes from Charlotte, North Carolina.

In this article, we discuss why Rocky River is one of the most compelling rural EB-5 projects available today.

Overview of the Rocky River EB-5 Project

Secured Loan Structure. The Rocky River EB-5 investment is structured as a secured loan. The loan is secured by a repayment guaranty from a diversified parent company of the developer that has substantial net equity.

Individual EB-5 Investor Loan Tranches. Unlike most EB-5 loan investments where all funds are pooled into a single loan tranche, Rocky River’s EB-5 loan is divided into $800,000 tranches for each EB-5 investor. Each tranche has its own five-year loan term that starts when the investor’s funds are invested in the project.

Proven EB-5 Project Model. Rocky River follows 13 successful Cresswind communities developed by Kolter Homes, including Twin Lakes Georgia. Each of these projects is either completed or currently under construction, with over 5,500 homes already built and turned over to buyers.

Excellent Developer Track Record. Rocky River is being developed by Kolter Homes, a division of The Kolter Group. Since 1997, Kolter has completed over 100 residential projects and delivered over 27,000 units. Kolter’s track record includes over 20 prior EB-5 projects with EB5AN. All EB-5 investments in Kolter projects have either been repaid or are in good standing.

Rural TEA Designation. The project is in a rural targeted employment area (TEA). By investing in a rural TEA project, EB-5 investors qualify for aa reduced investment amount of $800,000 as well as priority I-526E petition processing and access to special set-aside visas.

Significant Job Creation. The development of Rocky River is expected to generate a total of approximately 7,020 jobs for EB-5 investors. Since only 1,000 jobs are needed for each EB-5 investor to meet the EB-5 job creation requirement, the number of created jobs should far exceed the amount required for each investor to meet the EB-5 program’s standards.

Third-Party Fund Administration. PRXY Fund Services will serve as the third-party fund administrator for the project. Having an independent fund administrator improves security and transparency for EB-5 investors.

Independent EB-5 Oversight. EB5AN controls both the regional center sponsor for the project and the general partner of the project’s EB-5 fund. Crucially, EB5AN is 100% independent from Kolter. Independent oversight of the EB-5 project prevents any conflict of interest from arising between the EB-5 investment parties and the developer, which helps reduce EB-5 investor risk.

I-526E Approval Refund Guaranty. The project provides for faster repayment of an EB-5 investor’s $800,000 investment if United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) denies his or her Form I-526E.

Job Creation Guaranty. Kolter has provided a guaranty promising that all EB-5 funds will be spent on qualifying EB-5 expenses.

These features combine to make Rocky River a best-in-class rural EB-5 project that stands out in the market today. These top features are discussed in more detail below.

Understanding EB-5 Investment Financial Risk

To qualify for U.S. Green Cards, an EB-5 investor’s funds must be considered “at risk” by USCIS. This requires that the full $800,000 investment made by the investor be subject to the possibility of loss. As a result of this at-risk requirement, no EB-5 project can be entirely risk free.

While financial risk is part of the EB-5 program, the level of risk EB-5 investors face does not need to be substantial to meet the at-risk requirement. Unfortunately, many EB-5 projects are more risky than they need to be to comply with EB-5 program requirements, and many EB-5 investors do not realize how risky these projects are until after they have invested in them. When investors choose projects that carry higher financial risks, they are more likely to lose their investments and fail to obtain their permanent Green Cards.

EB-5 projects are required to transparently disclose risks to EB-5 investors, but few treat transparency as a fundamental right. EB-5 investors must do careful due diligence before they invest to avoid high-risk projects.

Most projects fail to offer even the most basic financial protections for EB-5 investors. The following are some key features to look for to ensure the EB-5 project you choose is low risk:

Repayment Guaranty. Most EB-5 loans are unsecured, which means they are not backed by any sort of collateral. If a borrower is not able to repay an unsecured EB-5 loan when due, EB-5 investors are not likely to recover their funds. On the other hand, when an EB-5 loan is secured by a repayment guaranty from a third party, EB-5 investors are protected in the event the borrower is unable to repay the loan. But the value of a repayment guaranty depends on the financial strength of the guarantor. A repayment guaranty from a company with no real assets is worth practically nothing, whereas a repayment guaranty from a company with significant capital, diverse assets, and net equity helps lower risk for EB-5 investors.

 
Financial Transparency. Prospective investors should have access to documents that verify a project’s financial claims. If a project says it has sales, investors should be able to review its sales data before they commit their funds. An EB-5 project that is reluctant to provide financial statements may be withholding crucial facts. EB-5 investors should approach any project that is not transparent with extreme caution.

 
I-526E Approval Refund Guaranty. If USCIS denies an EB-5 investor’s Form I-526E petition, that investor’s $800,000 is not automatically refunded. Some projects may keep a denied investor’s funds for several years. The best EB-5 projects, however, offer investors some form of I-526E approval refund guaranty that ensures denied investors receive a refund of their investments sooner than would otherwise be possible.

 
Individualized Loan Term. Most EB-5 loans have a single term for all EB-5 investors that does not start until certain conditions are met. Such conditions often mean the loan term does not start for a year or more after the first EB-5 investor makes his or her investment. Conversely, the best EB-5 loans are structured in a way that each investor has an individualized loan term that starts when his or her money is invested in the project. Under this loan structure, the timeline for each investor is clear and independent from when others may invest in the project.

 
Clear Exit. One of the key financial risk factors in an investment is the exit, which is when and how investors are repaid. For an EB-5 loan, the timeline for repayment is determined by the loan term and any optional extensions. In practice, however, the actual exit relies on the success of the project. If a project is not profitable, it may not be able to repay the loan on time. This is why a developer’s track record is an important indicator of how likely it is to repay the loan when it is due.

 
Every project has its own unique risks, and EB-5 investors should carefully weigh all project risks before they invest their funds. By understanding project risks and asking good questions, EB-5 investors are able to make informed decisions and invest in a project that gives them the best chance of meeting their financial and immigration goals.

Understanding the Rural TEA Designation

What Qualifies as a TEA?

To be designated as a TEA, an area must either have a high unemployment rate or be located in a rural area. For an area to qualify as a rural TEA, it must not be within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) or the boundary of a city with a population of at least 20,000.

Benefits of Selecting a Rural TEA EB-5 Project

EB-5 projects in rural TEAs offer major advantages to EB-5 investors.

While the standard EB-5 investment amount is $1,050,000, those who invest in TEA projects must invest only $800,000.

Rural TEA investments also qualify EB-5 investors for set-aside EB-5 visas. Under the EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022, 32% of the total annual EB-5 visas are reserved, with 20% specifically set aside for rural TEA investors

These visas are not currently affected by backlogs (i.e., visa retrogression), which means fewer delays for EB-5 investors. Even investors from countries like China and India, where demand for EB-5 visas is high, are not backlogged in the rural visa category. As a result, rural EB-5 investors are often able to immigrate to the United States much sooner than those without set-aside visas.

Another benefit of investing in a rural TEA project is priority Form I-526E processing. Priority processing means that rural TEA investor petitions are processed first by USCIS, which often means a wait time of just months instead of years.

Evaluating Rural EB-5 Projects

Through some basic research, EB-5 investors can avoid riskier projects and improve their chances of financial and immigration success.

First, EB-5 investors should research a project’s developer. The development team should have past experience successfully developing similar projects.

The developer should also be invested in the project. If a developer has not invested much of its own capital, it has less to lose if the project fails. More developer equity usually means less risk to other funding sources, including to EB-5 investors.

Additionally, EB-5 investors should learn whether the developer intends to use EB-5 funds to recapitalize its equity. If EB-5 funds are used to replace developer equity, the developer limits its own risk at the expense of EB-5 investors. Because of this, EB-5 investors should generally avoid projects that use EB-5 funds to reduce developer equity.

To improve the likelihood that they will be repaid, investors should do their own research into how viable a project is. The project’s type, location, market, and many other factors impact its viability and risk.

Investors should look for projects that are backed by reputable regional center sponsors. Such a regional center will be led by experienced professionals who have extensive knowledge of current EB-5 regulations and policies. The regional center should also be independent from the developer to avoid any conflicts of interest.

The EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act of 2022 added compliance and reporting requirements and changed TEA guidelines. To date, USCIS has not issued full guidance on these changes. As a result, EB-5 investors need the support of competent regional center operators who know how to navigate shifting policies. If a project is sponsored by an inexperienced or poorly managed regional center, EB-5 investors face major risks related to regulatory compliance, jeopardizing their chances of receiving Green Cards.

Rocky River Is a Best-in-Class Rural EB-5 Project

Rocky River is a compelling rural EB-5 project with best-in-class features that limit the financial and immigration risks faced by EB-5 investors. The project is being developed by Kolter, a highly experienced, well-capitalized developer with a perfect EB-5 project track record. EB-5 investors enjoy individualized loan terms and a repayment guaranty from a Kolter parent company. With an independent regional center, significant expected job creation, and more, Rocky River is one of the highest-quality, lowest-risk rural EB-5 projects on the market today.

Repayment Guaranty from a Kolter Parent Company

The Rocky River loan is secured by a repayment guaranty from a diversified Kolter parent company. This company has substantial, diverse assets and net equity, which enable it to guarantee the repayment of the entire principal balance of the EB-5 loan. With this guaranty in place, the EB-5 loan is much more likely to be repaid, which provides EB-5 investors with significant financial security.

Individualized Loan Terms

The project’s loan is divided into separate tranches for each EB-5 investor. Each tranche has its own term of five years that is independent of the term of any other investor’s tranche. Combined with Kolter’s strong track record of finishing projects on time and never failing to repay its loans, this loan structure should give EB-5 investors confidence that their loan tranche will be repaid on time.

Proven EB-5 Loan Project Model

Rocky River follows 13 prior Cresswind community developments across the southeastern United States. One such community, Twin Lakes Georgia, is a highly successful EB-5 project sponsored by EB5AN. Twin Lakes has received five Form I-956F approvals and over 100 investor I-526E approvals. The Rocky River EB-5 project is nearly identical to the Twin Lakes Georgia project.

Cresswind is a national, award-winning lifestyle program popular among retirees. All Cresswind communities have been successful, with over 5,500 homes closed and turned over to buyers as of September 2024.

Kolter Homes has proven experience building communities according to projected timelines and finishing infrastructure, model home parks, amenities, and homes as planned and on budget. Rocky River is expected to build on this record of success.

Experienced Developer

Kolter is one of the 20 largest private home builders in the United States. Since its founding in 1997, Kolter has invested in real estate projects totaling over $30.0 billion in value and has developed thousands of apartment units, single-family homes, condominium units, hotel rooms, and finished land lots across the Southeast.

Over its more than 25-year history, Kolter has borrowed billions of dollars and has never failed to repay a loan. All EB-5 investments in Kolter projects are in good standing or have been repaid.

Kolter has extensive experience developing single-family home communities similar to Rocky River through its business unit Kolter Homes.

Rural TEA Designation

The project is in a rural TEA, which allows for the lower minimum investment of $800,000, priority Form I-526E processing, and access to the 20% set-aside visa category for rural investments.

Significant EB-5 Job Creation

As discussed earlier, a key EB-5 program requirement is that each EB-5 investor’s capital must create at least 10 qualifying jobs for U.S. workers. As a regional center project, Rocky River can count both direct and indirect jobs created through construction spending.

In total, the project needs to create only 1,000 jobs to support the maximum number of EB-5 investors. However, Rocky River is projected to create a total of approximately 7,020 qualifying jobs. In other words, the project will create far more jobs than needed for all EB-5 investors to meet the job creation requirement. Such a significant surplus of jobs minimizes immigration risk for EB-5 investors.

Third-Party Fund Administration from PRXY

The Rocky River EB-5 project uses a third-party fund administrator to improve the project’s financial safety and transparency for EB-5 investors.

PRXY Fund Services uses a proprietary platform that tracks and records all EB-5 draws and project expenditures throughout the project lifecycle. This service provides EB-5 investors with readily available, comprehensive, real-time project metrics.

An Independent Regional Center with a Proven Record

EB5AN is the regional center sponsor for Rocky River. Since EB5AN is 100% independent from Kolter, it can prioritize the interests of its EB-5 investors without any conflicts of interest. EB5AN has facilitated over $1.0 billion in investments through the EB-5 program. To date, EB5AN’s total project development costs exceed $4.1 billion.

EB5AN offers foreign nationals low-risk, high-quality investment opportunities and has helped more than 2,300 immigrant investors from over 60 countries.

All adjudicated regional center sponsored projects offered by EB5AN have received USCIS approval.

I-526E Approval Refund Guaranty

Rocky River features an I-526E approval refund guaranty from Kolter. As described above, this guaranty helps investors recover their investment funds more quickly if USCIS denies their Form I-526E petitions.

Job Creation Guaranty

Kolter has guaranteed that all EB-5 funds invested in Rocky River will be spent on qualifying EB-5 expenses. With this guaranty, EB-5 investors can be confident that enough jobs will be created for them to meet the EB-5 program’s job creation requirement and to obtain permanent Green Cards.

Rocky River: A Unique, Low-Risk Rural EB-5 Project

No EB-5 project can be 100% risk free. Financial and immigration risks are simply part of the EB-5 program. Unfortunately, many EB-5 projects are much higher risk than they need to be.

Rocky River is different.

The Rocky River project is being developed by a top developer with a proven track record and has been structured with EB-5 investors in mind. It offers EB-5 investors a high-quality, low-risk option full of best-in-class safety features.

For more information on the Rocky River project or other available EB-5 projects, please schedule a one-on-one call with EB5AN.