Florida’s recently enacted SB 264 law, restricting foreign real estate investment from seven “countries of concern,” is directly impacting the commercial real estate industry. The law prohibits entities from six countries — Iran, North Korea, Syria, Russia, Venezuela and Cuba — from acquiring agricultural land or any property within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure, such as airports or power plants. Entities from China may not purchase any property in the state at all.
Real estate partner David Kaye told The Commercial Observer that his clients are concerned they might need to restructure their investment to comply with the law. “If there’s a limited partner in the ownership structure that’s Chinese or Chinese government, who is the burden on to report? Is it the Chinese government that owns an interest in a private equity fund? Is it the private equity fund itself? Is it both? We just don’t know,” he said.
While discussion has circled around whether this is a political move, asset management partner Eric Requenez said “I don’t think Florida, or at least the Senate, passed the bill with the intent for this to be challenged and revisited and not go into law. It seemed like they believed that this was the best path forward.”
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