EB-5’s fighting chance

The increasingly controversial visa program has been a boon to New York real estate for years. Will Donald Trump go to bat for it?

From the March issue: In early 2013, a press release for an upcoming luxury high-rise in New Jersey was blasted out to investors more than 6,000 miles away.

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Aimed at wealthy Chinese seeking a life in America through the EB-5 visa program — green cards awarded to foreign nationals in exchange for investments in job-creating projects — the release cited Jersey City’s demand for upscale rentals at prices set well below the Manhattan market. Kushner Companies, the developer of the $218 million project later christened Trump Bay Street, would begin construction on the 50-story tower the following year if enough capital was raised. [more]