Commercial Investment Real Estate

JAN-FEB 2015

Commercial Investment Real Estate is the magazine of the CCIM Institute, the leading provider of commercial real estate education. CIRE covers market trends, current developments, and business strategies within the commercial real estate field.

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12 January | February | 2015 Commercial Investment Real Estate Q & A C CIM w by Jennifer Norbut EB-5 Entrepreneur With more than 16 years of experience in small business, commercial real estate investment, and property management, Mahnaz Khazen, CCIM, president and CEO of U.S. Immigration and Investment Center, is using her expertise to build stronger communities, one investor at a time. By utilizing fi nancing options through local community banks, USIIC helps fi nancially capable inbound investors plant roots in the U.S. real estate market via EB-5, the Immigrant Investor Program. Khazen also brings her unique insights to the CCIM Institute as a member of its International Activities Committee. Commercial Investment Real Estate asked Khazen to share some of the key initiatives of her organization. Mahnaz Khazen, CCIM residency in the U.S. Most of them are either entrepreneurs who would bring their talent and investments to the U.S. through a direct investment, or those who simply trust a Regional Center to manage their investment for them. Typical EB-5 investments include those in food and hospitality franchises. For example, USIIC recently completed its f rst EB-5 investment in Oakland, Calif. — the renovation of a historic building. Origi- nally constructed in 1926 by the YWCA to house young working women, the f ve-story Merritt Hotel had fallen into disrepair, becoming a magnet for crime, vagrancy, and vandalism. We renovated this historic land- mark, preserving and enhancing its period details while bringing the building up to 21st-century standards in energy ef ciency and state-of-the-art connectivity. We've now leased it to a prominent international business school in San Francisco to use as a student residence. Because of our ef orts, not only was a historic building saved, but a whole neighborhood was freed from daily crimes of prostitution and drug dealing that used to take place here. As a result, we were honored by the mayor of Oakland and the chief of police at the building's opening cel- ebration, which was also attended by a num- ber of other dignitaries. CIRE: Do you see any specifi c trends among your investor clients in the current market? Khazen: Inbound international investors are primarily looking for opportunities in areas that are familiar to them, such as locations where they have pre-existing ties with relatives or cities with a greater population of and tolerance for foreign CIRE: As president and founder of USIIC, what are your main objectives? Khazen: USIIC is the only EB-5 organization with its foundation in banking. Although a wide array of industries and businesses are eligible to receive EB-5 investors, we believe that the banking industry has the greatest opportunity to help new immigrants. I try hard to focus on investments that have a social impact and bring value to neighbor- hoods and communities. I've always been a big advocate for investing in community banks, since they are the institutions lending to small businesses and creating jobs. CIRE: What are the key advantages of the EB-5 program? Khazen: EB-5 investors have a dif erent set of investment requirements: T ey realize that the investment is for the purpose of obtaining

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