MIAMI—Riviera Point Development Group sees a clear opportunity in the midst of volatile international politics and markets driving growth in the job-creating US Immigrant Investor (EB-5) program. After closing on a four-acre site at Southwest 145th Avenue and Southwest 27th Street in Miramar, FL this summer, the firm is set to begin building the 72,000-square-foot Riviera Point Corporate Center by fall 2015.
Under the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) program, EB-5 allows a foreign nationals interested in obtaining permanent US residency to do so by investing in a commercial enterprise that generates at least 10 jobs for US workers for two years. The EB-5 Visa then becomes permanent.
“Our region's economic upswing is fueling demand for new, corporate-caliber space in Miramar's established Interstate 75-Miramar Parkway business district,” says Rodrigo Azpurua, CEO of Riviera. “We see that demand converging with a compelling need among foreign investors who seek safe haven in the U.S. for their families and funds through the EB-5 program.”
Riviera retained Stiles Realty to lease Riviera Point Corporate Center. Stiles' director of real estate Madelayne Garcia is betting its prime Southwest Broward location and proximity to the new FBI South Florida regional offices will attract office tenants.
“Southwest Broward is one of the strongest office markets in the county due to its accessibility to major transportation systems and proximity to Miami,” Garcia says. “Increasing demand and a consistent rise in tenant absorption have led to a current average vacancy rate that is one of the lowest in Broward County.”
Targeted at companies seeking from 3,000 to 5,000 square feet of upscale office space, Corrales Group Architects is designing the five-story Riviera Point Corporate Center to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the US Green Building Council.
Plans for the new $18 million development follow the firm's completion of the first of two buildings at Riviera Point Professional Center, Broward County's first EB-5 funded, multi-tenant office building, at University Drive and Florida's Turnpike in Miramar this summer. That $17 million project drew 34 international investors.
Azpurua and his team are also developing another EB-5-funded office complex—the 41,000-square-foot Riviera Point Business Center at Doral near Miami's Dolphin Expressway/Palmetto Expressway interchange. All three of Riviera Point Development Group's EB-5 office projects are located within government-designated Targeted Employment Areas where job creation is an identified priority.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.