A developer planning to turn a former factory in downtown Rockford into a hotel is trying to attract Chinese investors looking to get U.S. green cards to help cover the costs.
Gary Gorman plans to spend $67 million to turn the Amerock-Ziock building into an Embassy Suites hotel.
He told the Rockford Register Star that he and Mayor Larry Morrissey met the first of those investors at a presentation they made in Shanghai, China, last month.
Gorman said the woman agreed to invest $500,000. As part of the federal EB-5 immigration program she can get a green card because of the size of her investment.
Gorman hopes to attract 25 such investors.
He used similar investments to turn the former Pabst Brewing Co. building in Milwaukee into a hotel.