Green Cards For Nets Arena

Officials for the Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn are crossing shores to shore up funds for the beleaguered development.

Forest City Ratner CEO Bruce Ratner and Empire State Development Corp. director Peter Davidson are heading to China for a weeklong trip this month to market the project to potential investors, according to the New York Post.

Atlantic Yards, which will include the future home of the New Jersey Nets at the Barclays Center, has faced numerous legal and financial setbacks. The group is reportedly attempting to raise $250 million from foreign investors to keep the $4.9 billion development going.

In return, investors who pledge $500,000 or more will be eligible for U.S. green cards through a federal EB-5 program, the Post said, which is overseen by the New York City Regional Center.

The Atlantic Yards Report blog questioned claims about the project in a recent post that included video from a forum in which the NYCRC’s Gregg Hayden told Chinese investors the development is “the most significant project in the city and state of New York in the last 20 years.”

Hayden also added that Atlantic Yards could generate “in excess of 10,000 jobs for years to come” in NYC.

Other VIPs reportedly invited to come along on the NYCRC’s dime to China included Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Nets majority owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Jay-Z.

While Markowitz declined the trip, a spokesman told the Post that he “supports the group’s mission, wishes it great success and is confident the project will excite even more investors as it moves forward.”