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June 2012
EDA Office of Foreign Trade • Riverside County, California • USA
F
or Modern Era Development
Inc., an Arcadia firm that operates
an EB-5 center that attracts
foreign investment to Riverside County,
it’s all about putting the right pieces
together to ensure Chinese investors
feel their money is safe and being put
to good use.
The firm has close ties to Chinese
investors who are interested in
investing in American projects and
using the EB-5 program to obtain a
visa to live in the U.S. The company’s
principals, from its general man-
ager, vice-president and corporate
counsel to its architect, advisors and
immigration consultant, all are experts
in the EB-5 program, Chinese culture
and customs, or both.
Modern Era Development’s familiarity
with China and its residents enables
the company to make potential
investors comfortable with the idea of
investing great sums of money far from
home, said Lynn Chou, Modern Era’s
general manager.
Chinese people are much more likely
to believe something if it is told to
them by a friend or a trusted business
associate, and Modern Era has a large
network of such potential investors,
she said.
“It’s an investment,” Chou said. “You
may make money, but you may lose
money as well.”
The EB-5 program also has been
used elsewhere in Riverside County
to provide financing for projects.
Part of the reason the program has
become so popular is that banks, stung
by the recent financial crisis, have
been reluctant to make loans, EB-5
proponents say.
For example, a four-story building at
Second and Mercedes streets in Old
Town Temecula that will be a mixture
of retail and office uses received about
$16 million of EB-5 funding from
Chinese investors, Temecula officials
have said.
A 240,000-square-foot industrial
building on Zevo Drive was bought
using $7.8 million in EB-5 funds from
another set of Chinese investors. The
building on the west side of town, one
of the largest industrial buildings in
Temecula, is being leased to multiple
tenants.
A $12 million shopping center under
construction across from Murrieta City
Hall was financed by 24 investors from
China, Japan and South Korea who each
invested $500,000.
Many Chinese investors want to invest
in the EB-5 program because they
want to bring not just themselves, but
their families, to the U.S., said Twen
Ma, an architect who is working with
Modern Era Development on a project
in Corona.
“The primary motive for these
immigrants is the education of their
children,” Ma said. “There is a great
premium put on education.”
Modern Era has helped arrange EB-5
financing from Chinese investors
to build a $17 million project in the
Corona area off Interstate 15 that
would feature a 40,588-square-foot
hotel tower with 76 hotel condos, a
27,300-square-foot commercial tower
with 24 commercial condo suites, an
amphitheater and professional offices.
Modern Era also is looking at investing
in a senior citizen project in the
Moreno Valley/Perris area and a
mixed-use or assisted living facility
near Lake Elsinore, Ma said.
The Corona project would be located
on 1.76 acres on East Ontario Avenue
between Minnesota Street and Envoy
Avenue. The hotel would include
a restaurant, reception area and
conference room, and a four-story
parking structure would be included
on-site.
The financing for the project came
through the EB-5 program, which
promises a visa to foreign investors
and their families in exchange for an
investment of $500,000 to $1 million
and the creation of at least 10 jobs.
The program, which is run by the U.S.
Customs and Immigration Services,
attracts foreign investment to America
while also giving foreign business
people an opportunity to migrate to
the U.S.
By Phil Pitchford
Chinese EB-5 Center Invests
in U.S. and Creates Jobs