Pursuits

NYC Developers Face Clash in Washington on Visa Program

Developers are taking advantage of a record amount of money that’s flowing through the EB-5 program, which grants green cards to foreigners that invest a minimum of $500,000 in projects that create jobs.
Photographer: Craig Warga/Bloomberg

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By Sarah Mulholland

July 20, 2015 at 9:00 AM UTC

Updated on

July 20, 2015 at 6:41 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

As Related Cos.’ $20 billion real estate complex rises on the far west side of Manhattan, legislators in Washington are debating the fate of a program that has been critical to building it.

The caissons underpinning the 28-acre (11-hectare) Hudson Yards project, and steel beams rising for towers from Seattle to Los Angeles, are resting on the same foundation: a bedrock of cash from Chinese individuals. Developers are taking advantage of a record amount of money that’s flowing through the EB-5 program, which grants green cards to foreigners that invest a minimum of $500,000 in projects that create jobs.