Turkish developer Okan Group is now eligible to raise EB-5 funds for its Okan Tower in downtown Miami, allowing foreign investors to help finance the Hilton-branded condo-hotel tower, The Real Deal has learned.
When completed, Okan Tower will include a 316-key Hilton hotel, 236 condo-hotel units managed by Hilton, 163 condos, more than 80,000 square feet of amenities and 60,000 square feet of office space. Behar Font & Partners designed the building, which will mark Okan’s first in the U.S.
Construction of Okan, a planned 70-story mixed-use high-rise at 555 North Miami Avenue, is on the 31st floor and is estimated to be completed by the end of 2027, said Michael Sadov, the new sales director. Edgardo Defortuna’s Fortune Development Sales has been leading sales of the project.
Sadov said the developer will release 30 EB-5 investor slots at a time, but he declined to disclose the total amount Okan seeks to raise via EB-5. The investor visa program has a minimum threshold of $1.05 million. It provides green cards to investors and their immediate families whose funds lead to the creation of 10 full-time jobs for U.S. workers.
Okan has self-funded construction of the project so far. The developer paused the project in 2020 as a result of the pandemic and relaunched sales the following year. An Okan affiliate paid $18.1 million for the 0.8-acre development site in 2017. It’s surrounded by other new developments, including the Crosby at Miami Worldcenter and Melo Group’s Downtown 6th.
Sadov, who took over sales of Okan Tower in June, said the building is just over 60 percent presold. Unit prices range from $750,000 for a condo-hotel studio, to $3.6 million for a condo, excluding penthouses.
Preconstruction condo sales across South Florida have slowed, but Sadov said Okan has seen an uptick in traffic in recent weeks.
He said the sales team has been traveling to countries that include Colombia, Mexico and Brazil, where the project has the biggest concentration of foreign buyers. The developer is also promoting the building in Turkey.
Not all EB-5 investors purchase units, Sadov said.
A small but growing number of condo developers are tapping into EB-5 investors to help finance their projects in Miami-Dade County. Developments that include hospitality components are typically a better fit for EB-5 because they create more jobs than a traditional condo development.
Defortuna’s Fortune International Group recently filed an application for EB-5 designation for its Ora by Casa Tua condo-hotel tower planned in Miami’s Brickell, and the development firm raised EB-5 funds for Nexo Residences, a short-term rental-friendly condo project it’s co-developing with Jorge Savloff’s Blue Road in North Miami Beach.
EB-5 has been in existence since 1990, but the Trump administration has been working on its $5 million gold card visa program, another potential option for wealthy foreigners seeking U.S. citizenship.
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