Encore Receives $15 Million from Foreign Investors for Dallas Call Center

Feb. 28, 2011 - PRLog -- Dallas, Texas – 31, 2011 – The City of Dallas Regional Center (CDRC) announces commitments from 30 foreign nationals to invest $500,000 each – a total of $15 million – to provide a loan to Encore Enterprises, Inc., to operate a call center in central Dallas. The project will result in the creation of at least 300 new jobs. This is the first major success from the City of Dallas program established to attract foreign investment to job-creating enterprises.


"Encore Enterprises is proud to be working with the CDRC to bring this call center to Dallas," said Patrick Barber, president and CEO, Encore Enterprises, Inc., a diversified real estate firm. "Beyond this first project, we envision a long-term partnership with the City because the CDRC’s capital provides us the unique opportunity to grow our business and bring more jobs to Dallas in the future."


The low-cost financing for the call center is provided through the CDRC, which was established under the federal government’s EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Through the program, qualified foreign nationals can earn legal U.S. residency by investing in an enterprise that creates 10 jobs for each $500,000 investment.

According to USCIS, there are more than 130 approved Regional Centers across the United States, each with its own distinct mandate and structure. The CDRC was established late in 2009, and after a competitive bid process, the City appointed Civitas Capital Management, LLC, a private investment firm, to independently manage the CDRC, ensure projects exceed the minimum EB-5 job-creation requirements and preserve investors’ capital.


"The CDRC is different," said Dallas City Councilmember Ron Natinsky. "We deliberately structured the CDRC to be a true public-private partnership between the City and Civitas. This long-term initiative will benefit Dallas by bringing qualified foreign investment and ongoing job creation to our community. Investors benefit from CDRC’s high-quality, independently managed investment offerings. These factors set the CDRC apart in the broader EB-5 marketplace, and we believe the CDRC sets a new standard nationally.


"The CDRC has attracted investors from China, Mexico, India, Bolivia, South Korea and Russia," Civitas Managing Partner Dan Healy said. "In fact, the $15 million call center investment fund was oversubscribed by more than 20 percent, due mainly to the high quality and conservative risk profile of the investment, as well as the City’s strong support for the overall CDRC program."


Civitas is currently evaluating more than $200 million in potential CDRC transactions, including additional projects with Encore Enterprises. The firm is solely focused on projects that exceed the job creation requirements imposed by EB-5 program regulations. The CDRC’s investment mandate is quite broad, and Civitas is considering investments in a range of industries, including multi-family apartments, logistics, light manufacturing, medical facilities, senior housing, financial services and other sectors of the local economy.



About Encore Enterprises, Inc.
Encore Enterprises, Inc. is a diversified commercial real estate firm in Dallas, Texas, with a unique blend of expertise, innovation and efficiency in acquisition, investment, asset and property management, leasing and development.  Since the company’s formation in 1999, Encore Enterprises has completed over $1 billion of acquisition, development and financial transactions with a focus on the Southern, Eastern and Midwestern United States. http://www.encore.bz


About Civitas Capital Management, LLC
Civitas is a specialty asset management and financial services firm. As the exclusive manager of the CDRC, Civitas works to ensure each CDRC investment is EB-5 compliant and meets the job creation requirements. Further, Civitas performs meticulous financial analysis to preserve investors’ capital and provide risk-adjusted returns.


About the City of Dallas Regional Center (CDRC)
The CDRC is the official EB-5 Regional Center of the City of Dallas. Owned by the City of Dallas and independently managed by Civitas Capital Management, LLC, the CDRC enables the City to attract foreign capital to job-creating enterprises and is a significant asset in the City’s overall economic development program. For more information, visit www.civitascapital.com/CDRC

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Encore Enterprises, Inc., a privtely owned real estate investment, development, ownership and management company. Encore develops, owns, and manages mixed-use complexes, hotels, apartment communities and retail shopping centers.