Zhang Yang

    nicolezyyy@163.com

    AN EB-5 project initiated by the Sacramento Kings, the oldest NBA team in the United States, is seeking investment in China by offering U.S. green cards to investors in return.

    The Sacramento Kings launched the project to finance its NBA sports and entertainment center — the Golden 1 Center — and its surrounding development in downtown Sacramento, California. The center is expected to be operational in October this year and open its doors for the start of the 2016-2017 NBA season.

    Good Hope Investment, a Beijing-based investment service company under CreditEase, is partnering with the Sacramento Kings to promote their EB-5 project in China, with an investor meet-up event held in Futian District on Thursday.

    Foreign nationals who invest money in EB-5 projects can get an EB-5 visa, which provides a method of obtaining a green card in the United States, but each investor should create or preserve at least 10 jobs in the United States to obtain the visa.

    “The center under construction has created over 3,000 jobs, more than the quota of 2,500 jobs we need for the EB-5 project,” said Jenny Zhan, Good Hope Investment’s president.

    She said the project will accept 250 investors from around the world, and each investor should contribute at least US$500,000, which will be paid back in five years with an interest rate of 0.25 percent.

    “The property developer will cover 40 percent of the center’s construction costs and about 27 percent will be paid by the Sacramento government,” Zhan said, adding that the money raised via the EB-5 project will only cover 15 percent of the costs, meaning the investment risks have been shared by the property developer and the city government.

    Eren Cicekdagi, Golden Gate Global’s operation director, said about 70 percent of the center’s retailing space has been pre-ordered by tenants, and the center’s revenue is expected to be four times the EB-5 investment amount.

    Golden Gate Global is an EB-5 Immigrant Investment Regional Center that handles the Sacramento Kings’ EB-5 project.

    Cicekdagi said the project has been joined by investors from over 22 countries, and it is soliciting investors in China starting with the first stop in Shenzhen, with more roadshows to be hosted in other cities in China.