Posted Oct 16, 2015, 5:23 PM
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NYC/NJ/Miami-Dade
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Riverview Estates Fairway (PA)
Posts: 45,696
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We have two conflicting heights. WSJ claims 900 ft but TRD claims 1,210 ft...
If thats the case, WSJ, this will be what rises
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Swanky New York Condo Project Exploits Aid Program
Quote:
If developer Steven Witkoff’s ambitions are realized, he will complete by 2020 a soaring 900-foot condominium tower that would be the latest addition to the “Billionaires’ Row” of ultraluxury skyscrapers on the southern edge of New York’s Central Park.
Aiding Mr. Witkoff and his partners: more than $200 million in low-cost financing from aspiring immigrants, in increments of $500,000, through a provision of a federal visa program designed to help economically ailing neighborhoods. For the purposes of the program, known as EB-5, a special district was created linking the planned tower with public-housing projects in East Harlem—a common practice for developers.
The proposed $1.7 billion tower at 36 Central Park South is the highest-end project yet to tap the EB-5 program, which gives green cards to immigrants who invest in new businesses measured to have created jobs.
Should the project be built—a final decision to start construction hasn’t yet been made—prices are expected to be as high as $13,000 a square foot, just shy of the city’s record price a square foot, according to a presentation for potential investors. Some of the planned condo units may “include dedicated security offices to accommodate private security personnel,” according to offering documents.
Mr. Witkoff said he is following all program rules, and the project would create construction jobs throughout the city and region—not just around the development.
“Those are working-class people who are getting those jobs,” he said, adding the EB-5 program has helped start construction on numerous other projects that wouldn’t have been built. “EB-5 has been a huge positive for the financing market.”
The planned tower, on the site of the Park Lane Hotel, represents one of the starkest examples of what critics call a widespread abuse of the immigrant investor program that is at the heart of a debate in Congress. A crucial piece of the program expires Dec. 11, having been extended from Sept. 30.
After months of discussions, key members of Congress in recent weeks have reached broad agreement on how to reform many aspects of EB-5, including making changes meant to reduce the possibility of fraud. But the main sticking point is a fight over whether projects like 36 Central Park South, in wealthy neighborhoods of big cities, should be able to continue benefiting from a provision meant for economically strained areas, congressional aides said.
“Much of the investment money coming into targeted employment areas has been directed towards lavish building projects in well-to-do urban areas,” Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), said in Congress last week. He called this an “abuse of the program” that is “not fulfilling the intent of the law.”
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http://www.wsj.com/articles/posh-tow...uth-1444728781
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