Investors Mario and Ramon Castellanos just scored $5.5 million in EB-5 funding to build a charter school in south Miami-Dade, property records show.
The Miami-based investors paid $469,000 for the 3-acre property at 12400 Hainlin Mill Drive in March. Records show the charter school chain AcadeMir, managed by Superior Charter Schools Services, will be leasing the property. The charter school manager has at least four other schools operating under the AcadeMir name in Miami, according to its website.
The lender, EB-5 Charter School Phase 37 LP, is an affiliate of the Jupiter-based EB-5 investment facilitator, GreenAccess. A representative of GreenAccess was not immediately available to comment.
The planned K-8 charter school will accommodate up to 650 students, according to GreenAccess’ website. The school is slated to open in August, in time for the new school year. It sits just south of 216th Street on the west side of South Dixie Highway, near Southland Mall.
The lender has also worked with MG3 Development Group to build a 153,000-square-foot charter school near Delray Beach. Under the EB-5 program, foreign investors (as well as their immediate family members) can invest $500,000 in a job-producing project in exchange for an immigration visa. The U.S. government only issues about 10,000 new EB-5 visas per year.