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Chinese Investment Group®

Hotels, Real Estate and EB-5

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The Chinese Investment Group® is a dedicated team of hotel and real estate lawyers in JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® that provides a gateway for Chinese investment in the United States. Using experience gained from more than 4,700 hospitality properties worldwide valued at more than $125 billion, together with substantial experience in general real estate transactions, the Group provides Chinese investors with legal and business advice to make prudent and economically successful hotel and real estate investments in the United States.

The Group and its network of reliable professional resources help Chinese investors identify, analyze, evaluate, validate, acquire, finance and manage hotel and real estate opportunities. The Group does not receive any finder’s fees, incentive fees, commissions or payments from any promoters, and provides independent advice to Chinese investors regarding all hotel and real estate opportunities. The Group also represents selected hotel, restaurant and other real property owners and developers in structuring investments for foreign investors -- particularly Chinese investors -- using the EB-5 immigrant investor visa program.

Representative Clients and Hotels

JMBM has a long history of representing such notable clients as Regent Hospitality Group, Disney Vacation Club, Hillwood Development (Ross Perot, Jr.), MGM Mirage, The Trump Organization and The City of Dallas. JMBM's bank clients include HSBC, Far East National Bank, HSH Nordbank, Swedbank, Union Bank of California and Wells Fargo. JMBM has also represented many hotel developers and owners throughout the world, including the largest developers and owners of W Hotels and Ritz-Carlton mixed-use projects in the United States.

For more than 20 years, the JMBM Global Hospitality Group® has focused on serving hotel owners, investors, developers and lenders. We regularly work with all the major hotel brands and sub-brands ranging from Four Points and Holiday Inn to Marriott, Hilton and Sheraton – more than 60 brands in all – including high-end brands such as Fairmont, Ritz-Carlton, Regent, Renaissance, InterContinental, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental.

Experience with Chinese investment and EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program

Over the past two years, the lawyers at JMBM have worked on a rapidly growing number of projects with Chinese investment in U.S. hotels, real estate projects, and EB-5 immigrant investor visa projects, including the following:

  • The June 2010 purchase of Regent Hotels, including worldwide rights to the brand and hotel management agreements in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and the Caribbean, by Formosa International Hotels Corporation, a Taiwan-based public company.
  • The sale of the Sheraton Universal Hotel to Shenzhen New World Group, which closed in January 2011.
  • The $20 million investment by Chinese investors in the W Hotel and Residences Hollywood (for Drai's Vegas-style night club and the Delphine fine dining restaurant), which closed in July 2011.
  • Several Regional Center EB-5 Chinese investments we are currently working on, as well as other significant non-EB-5 projects relating to Chinese investment.
  • EB-5 financing transactions for more than 20 developers with over 40 projects throughout the United States, primarily for hotels and some assisted living and other real estate development projects.
What we do for Chinese investors in the United States

We help our Chinese investor clients seeking to purchase or invest in hotels and real estate in the U.S. with:

  • Identifying and evaluating hotel and real estate opportunities
  • Due diligence investigation of properties
  • Negotiating purchase and sale transactions
  • Debt and equity financings
  • Obtaining government approvals and permits
  • Tax planning

After properties are acquired, we assist hotel and real estate owners with:

  • Business contracts and leases
  • Employment and labor matters
  • Litigation and tax issues

For hotel investments, we also provide:

  • Contacts with the top hotel brands (Marriott, Hilton, Starwood, InterContinental Hotel Group, Hyatt, Regent, Peninsula, Four Seasons and others)
  • Negotiation of the best available contract terms in the market for hotel franchise and management agreements
  • A network of financing sources, construction managers, operators, brands, and specialized consultants
What we do for Clients Seeking EB-5 Financing

For our hotel, restaurant and other commercial real estate clients seeking financing through the EB-5 program, we advise on:

  • EB-5 project viability and due diligence
  • Qualifying for governmental incentives such as New Markets Tax Credits, redevelopment agency funding, and other tax credits
  • EB-5 Regional Centers
  • Determining targeted employment area (TEA) designation
  • Job creation requirements
  • Securing state and local governmental support for a project
  • Federal securities laws with respect to the sale of limited partnership interests to EB-5 investors
  • Structuring and documenting EB-5 investment programs
  • Negotiating marketing contracts for EB-5 investment programs
  • Negotiating loan and inter-creditor agreements between EB-5 lenders and other lenders
Successes