Steven Polivy, Akerman Economic Development & Incentives Practice Chair and the firm's New York Office Managing Partner, was quoted by Law360 in an article titled, "EB-5 On The Rise In Retail, Mixed-Use Projects." The story reported that foreign investment is fueling the rise of retail and mix-used development projects through the EB-5 visa program, particularly in transcending U.S. cities like Miami and New York. It explained that the EB-5 program has grown in popularity in recent years as a way to bridge the large financing gap in many urban redevelopment projects since the economic downturn. Such projects include the City Point project led by Akerman, a 650,000-square-foot retail project built by Acadia Realty Trust in downtown Brooklyn, which Law360 described as "urban pioneering" since it might not have been possible to build without EB-5 financing.

"There was no conventional construction financing available for a downtown Brooklyn major retail project in 2010 when they first started talking about an EB-5 project," said Polivy. "In 2010 traditional lenders were not signing up for $250 million new construction projects for retail in downtown Brooklyn."