Page 7 - March issue 2012 export magazine

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EDA Office of Foreign Trade • Riverside County, California • USA
July 2012
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In the increasingly
crowded field
of EB-5 centers
that are seeking
to connect local
businesses with
international
investors, USA
Continental
Regional Center
stands out.
W
e really are developers first,” Al Rattan, President and
Co-Founder of the Murrieta-based company, said as he led a tour
of the Continental Medical Plaza, a formerly distressed property
in Murrieta that Rattan and his organization bought and have renovated into
a sleek medical complex.
“We replaced everything – every window,” Rattan said as construction crews
finished work on the last of the renovations that were completed with several
million dollars from Vietnamese investors.
The medical plaza is located in the “golden triangle” area of Southwest
Riverside County, between the 15 and 215 freeways, and directly across from
the Rancho Springs Medical Center. Rattan recently received an “International
Investment Award” from the county for his work in creating construction jobs
and permanent jobs in the newly-renovated building.
At a time when businesses have had trouble obtaining financing from banks
and other traditional lenders, the EB-5 program provided needed capital.
“This is a classic example of taking a distressed property and turning
it around,” said Tom Freeman, Foreign Trade Commissioner within the
Riverside County Economic Development Agency. “This is one more example
that awaits the international investor in Riverside County.
USA Continental is working hand-in-hand with its sister company,
Continental East Development, to facilitate several developments around
Riverside County, including a 150-bed senior living facility in Moreno Valley
adjacent to the Riverside County Regional Medical Center.
In the case of the Continental Medical Plaza, a major medical imaging
company that was considering leaving the immediate area instead decided to
stay and will be a major contributor to Continental Medical Plaza’s success.
That addition will not only help the medical plaza succeed, it also will bring
good, high-paying jobs to the city.