MIAMI—Recently, EB-5 for Florida Regional Center and its affiliates announced Tap 42 Craft Kitchen & Bar received a $5 million loan funded with EB-5 capital. The loan is helping fuel the expansion of the Fort Lauderdale-based gastropub into Aventura Mall.

GlobeSt.com sat down with Roger Bernstein, a principal with EB-5 for Florida Regional Center, to discuss this alternative form of financing for restaurants. His regional center promotes Tap 42 as an investment opportunity among EB-5 investors.

GlobeSt.com: How was the loan funded and what will it pay for?

Bernstein: The funding came from 10 foreign investors seeking to obtain a green card through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. This visa program creates a path to US Citizenship for investors and their families when they invest $500,000 in a US business that creates 10 full-time jobs in a high unemployment area.

Job creation is one of the main conditions for the investors to obtain permanent US residency. The loan will help cover the construction cost of opening Tap42 in the Aventura Mall. That location is scheduled to open in late 2017 or early 2018.

Part of the funding will also cover some of the cost incurred to open a location in Midtown Miami earlier this year. This is not our first EB-5 loan for Tap 42. In 2016, we raised $4.5 million in EB-5 funds to open the Coral Gables and Boca Raton locations.

GlobeSt.com: Why was this EB-5 loan a good investment opportunity for foreign investors?

Bernstein: The $5 million loan required the borrower to provide personal completion guarantees on all construction and a pledge of membership interest in the operating company and other securities tied to Tap 42. This approach works for EB-5 investors because they are in a first position, which better ensures the repayment of capital. Putting investors' interests first is turning out to be the right recipe for hospitality projects looking for alternative financing in order to grow.

GlobeSt.com: Why has EB-5 financing become an important source of alternative financing for restaurants and favorite target for EB-5 investors?

Bernstein: Restaurant owners favor using EB-5 loans because the borrowing cost can be less expensive than private equity or a conventional loan. At the same time, EB-5 investors receive profit distributions on their investment every year and the return of their invested capital in five years.

GlobeSt.com: What's ahead for the EB-5 visa program?

Bernstein: The EB-5 investor visa program is scheduled for Congressional review and renewal on December 8, 2017. The EB-5 industry is lobbying for a long-term renewal of the program and is open to legislative changes that will preserve the effectiveness of the program while increasing protection for investors.

Instant Insights /

An Important Source of Alternative Financing for Restaurants

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