Peachtree Group has appointed Adam Greene as EVP of the company’s newly launched EB-5 program.
Greene brings more than 30 years of financial experience, including more than a decade of EB-5 industry expertise, and has managed more than $600 million of EB-5 investments during his career. He serves as an executive officer and board member for Invest in the USA (IIUSA), the national EB-5 Regional Center trade association that represents dozens of companies that are designated by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to facilitate job-creating EB-5 investments.
“Implementing an EB-5 program is an excellent way to access low-cost capital, diversify our funding sources and invest in job-creating projects across the country,” said Greg Friedman, CEO/managing principal, Peachtree. “Adam has a reputation as a straight shooter with great technical knowledge of the EB-5 program and brings immediate credibility to our program as we secure capital for our commercial real estate investments.”
The EB-5 visa program allows foreign investors to obtain a green card in exchange for making a significant investment in a new commercial enterprise that creates jobs in the U.S. Under the program, foreign nationals who invest a minimum of $800,000 in a U.S.-based project that creates or preserves at least ten full-time jobs for U.S. workers are eligible to apply for permanent residency in the U.S.
“I am excited to help Peachtree’s broad and respected investment platform participate in this program, which sits at the intersection of economic development, finance and immigration,” said Greene. “The EB-5 program had a major overhaul with the passage of the 2022 EB-5 Reform and Integrity Act, and it will require sophisticated players like Peachtree to implement properly and enable the program to realize its full potential. I expect to help Peachtree, a noted hospitality investor and developer, attract foreign investment, create job opportunities, and generate economic growth while providing meaningful opportunities for deserving, would-be U.S. immigrants.”
Friedman added, “The hotel industry supports more than 1 in 25 American jobs. While different projects will have varying levels of impact, hotels as an operating business that create good local jobs for the community.”
Stonehill, a commercial lender and a part of Peachtree, has approximately $1 billion in originations for new developments and renovations. In addition, Peachtree Hospitality Development, also a part of Peachtree, has completed more than $1.5 billion in hotel construction and redevelopment with a significant pipeline of projects under construction. Notably, these and other areas of Peachtree are actively building and financing new hotels in rural and high-unemployment areas favored in the EB-5 program.
Before Greene’s EB-5 experience, he established the hospitality financing program at Textron Financial. Under this program, Textron Financial provided more than $250 million in senior debt for hospitality development projects in the U.S., Canada and Mexico in chain scales ranging from economy to luxury. Before Textron Financial, he focused on project financing for infrastructure, sports and petrochemical projects with JP Morgan Chase in New York and London and for WestLB in New York.