By Lindsey Gemme | Eloy Enterprise
Last week, city staff members and area business owners got a much-coveted update on PhoenixMart project at last Thursday’s Economic Development Group of Eloy (EDGE) luncheon at Robson Ranch.
Vice-President Brad Holyoak of AZ Sourcing, an Arizona-based construction company specializing in real estate development, shopping center management and international trade and communications, was invited to discuss the project after a long radio-silent year.
“You may have noticed that we’ve been strategically quiet about our project,” Holyoak said. “We’ve learned some lessons about speaking out-of-turn, and maybe getting a little excited too quickly.”
According to Holyoak, the project has been hung up in some red tape, one of its biggest delays being in relation to its funding sources.
The PhoenixMart is utilizing a visa program called the EB5 program. It was created through the by the Immigration Act that Congress passed in 1990, for immigrant investors. Foreign businessmen and women, through this program, are allotted a U.S. green card after providing a substantial investment (ranging from $500,000 to $1 million) in United States commerce that creates or preserves approximately 10 jobs for U.S. workers in economically repressed areas. The green card encompasses the investor, and dependents (spouse and children under 18), and gives them a U.S. residency approval for two years.
