Ratner looks to tap green card financing program at Atlantic Yards

Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is looking to tap into overseas financing for his $4.9 billion project with the help of a federal program that gives green cards to investors in exchange for development capital. According to the Wall Street journal, Ratner is planning a trip to China next month in the hopes of drumming up $250 million in funds through the so-called EB-5 program, which has helped developers who create jobs in struggling areas raise more than $1 billion since its inception in 1990 by enticing prospective financiers with employment-based visas. Following the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s success in seeking $125 million in financing through the program this spring, the city suggested that Forest City Ratner try it, too. The company has thousands of apartments, the new Nets basketball arena and office space planned for the Downtown Brooklyn complex and would be seeking potentially the largest amount ever borrowed through EB-5, pending approval by the federal government for its participation. Ratner broke ground on the $900 million Barclays Center this year and is looking to start constructing its first of 16 Atlantic Yards towers in 2011. [WSJ]