EB-5 funded office complex in Broward is completed

Professional Center at Riviera Point and Rodrigo Azpurua
Professional Center at Riviera Point and Rodrigo Azpurua

Construction of the Professional Center at Riviera Point in Miramar was completed, marking the first EB-5 funded office complex in Broward County, developers announced on Tuesday.

Thirty-four South American investors put $17 million into the business park.

The first building in the development opened in June 2014 and is 100 percent leased, according to a press release. Tenants include insurance, accounting, law, marketing and advertising firms.

Riviera Point Development Group CEO Rodrigo Azpurua said he also plans to create an EB-5-funded office development geared to larger Class A office tenants at 145th Avenue and Southwest 27th Avenue in Miramar. The planned 72,000-square-foot project will be called Riviera Point Corporate Center.

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Riviera Point is also behind another EB-5-funded office complex — a 41,000-square-foot Riviera Point Business Center at Doral — for $9.5 million. The office condos are expected to be completed by November.

The qualifying investment for Riviera Point’s Miramar and Doral office centers, each located within a government-designated Targeted Employment Area (TEA), is $500,000.

Since Congress enacted the program in 1990, EB-5 visas have been a path to permanent U.S. residency for foreign nationals who create at least 10 domestic jobs and invest at least $500,000 to $1 million in a U.S. business venture. Nearly half of the regional centers in the Sunshine State are based in South Florida’s tri-county region. Miami-Dade has 17, Palm Beach has 13 and Broward has four. — Katherine Kallergis