EB-5 funded office condo in Doral opens at 92 percent sold

A new EB-5 funded, Class A office condominium in Doral has opened at 92 percent sold. 

The Riviera Point Business Center Doral, a $9.5 million, 41,000-square-foot office center at 1500 Northwest 89th Court, marks the second EB-5 funded project for the Riviera Point Development Group in the region, of which the developer has $145 million of investment planned in three projects.

County records show Riviera Point Business Center Doral filed a declaration of commercial condominium on March 25, about four months behind schedule. Nineteen foreign investors bought into the LEED-certified Doral office building, according to a press release. The sales have not yet cleared county records.

The 44-unit project was priced from $275,000 to $495,000, according to a spokesperson.

The EB-5 program grants visas to investors who contribute at least $500,000 to projects in the U.S. that employ 10 workers or more, with a preference for areas with high unemployment. And the demand for EB-5 visas is greater than ever: the number of applications for the controversial investments-for-visas program climbed to just under 17,791 in 2015, up from just over 11,744 in 2014 and 6,554 in 2013, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in March.

The lakefront project was designed by Boca Raton-based Corrales Group Architects and built by Design Management & Builders Corp. of Miami. The developer, led by Rodrigo Azpúrua, paid $1.6 million for the 2.4-acre lot in 2013, property records show. In the release, Azpúrua said the Doral market lacks new office condo space.

He also completed the Professional Center at Riviera Point in Miramar last year, marking the first EB-5 funded office complex in Broward County, and is working on a third, also in Miramar. Thirty-four South American investors put $17 million into the business park.