This document provides information about an investment opportunity in VooDoo BBQ & Grill restaurants through the Palm Beach Regional Center EB-5 program. It discusses the background of PBRC and its track record of I-526 petition approvals. Details are given about VooDoo BBQ, including its history, locations, and management team. The investment terms are outlined, including a $500,000 investment requirement to create over 10 jobs. Florida's strong tourism industry and population growth are noted as reasons for the restaurant's potential success. In summary, the document pitches an EB-5 investment in expanding VooDoo BBQ locations throughout Florida.
2. • The Palm Beach Regional Center
presents an opportunity to consider
investment in a variety of different
projects.
• These projects are carefully reviewed and
selected upon the basis of their ability to
meet stringent criteria while meeting EB-5
standards in creating jobs.
• PBRC’s Managing Members, Alfred
Zucaro and Louis Haddad, have extensive
experience in Immigration and Nationality
law and in the public and private sectors.
Palm Beach Regional Center
3. Background of The Palm Beach Regional Center
PBRC is approved by USCIS to operate
in the Miami Metro Area, which is the
largest and most popular area of the
State of Florida consisting of the Miami-
Dade, Broward and Palm Beach
counties.
• With a population of 5,564,635 inhabitants
per the 2010 Census,
• the Miami metropolitan area is the most
populous in Florida and in the
Southeastern United States[9]
• and the eighth-most populous in the
United States.
• It is part of the South Florida region and is
partially synonymous with the Gold Coast.
Its target economic industry
clusters includes:
• Restaurants
• Solar Panel Manufacturing
• Office Buildings
• Hotels
• Film & Television Production
• Renewable Energy Technologies
• Health Care Facilities
4. Sonic Restaurants
• Established 1955
• More than 3,400 locations
• 4 Phases in EB-5
• Raised USD$12,000,000
• 100% I-526 approval for Phases 1-3
VooDoo BBQ & Grill Restaurants
• Established 2002
• More than 52 locations
• 3 Phases in EB-5
• Raised USD$15,000,000
• 100% approvals on submitted I-526
• Phase 2 recently released
5. The EB-5 Visa Program
The Fastest way to Immigrate
to the United States
6. Why do so many people want to emigrate
to the U.S.A.?
• Access to the world’s best universities,
medical care, and social program at
the same cost paid by U.S. citizens
• Lower cost of living compared to many
other countries
• Freedom to establish your own
business
7. World University Rankings 2010
7 of the top 11 Universities in the world are located in the
United States
1. Harvard University (USA)
2. University of Cambridge (UK)
3. Yale University (USA)
4. University College London (UK)
5. Princeton University (USA)
6. Imperial College London (UK)
7. University of Oxford (UK)
8. University of Chicago (USA)
9. Massachusetts Institute of
Tech (USA)
10. California Institute of
Tech(USA)
11. Stanford University (USA)
8. What is the EB-5 Visa Program?
The fifth employment based visa
preference category (EB-5), created
by Congress in 1990, is available to
immigrants seeking to obtain their
permanent US residency by investing
in a new commercial enterprise that
will benefit the US economy and
create at least 10 full-time jobs.
•Type of Employment Based Visa
•10,000 EB-5 Green Cards available per
year
•3,000 Green Cards are set aside for the
Regional Center Program
•Green Cards (“conditional”) are issued
in months rather than years. Permanent
Green Card is issued 2 years after
approval of Investor’s petition.
•$1 million dollar investment unless the
business is located in a specially
designated high employment area or
rural area called a Targeted Employment
Area (“TEA”) and then the investment is
$500,000
•Investment is fully at risk
9. Selection Criteria for the EB-5 Visa
Program/Requirements
1. Minimum required Investment is $1,000,000* or
$500,000 if located in a TEA
2. The investment must create 10 full-time direct jobs
3. The applicant must prove lawful source of investment
funds
4. 6-18 months* to obtain a conditional visa, 2 years later
apply to remove the condition for permanent residency
5. Permanent Visa; no time restrictions; no education
requirements, not required to speak English.
10. USCIS Statistics on I-526 and I-829 approvals
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
Immigrant Petition by Alien Entrepreneur (I-526) and Petition by Entrepreneur to Remove
Conditions (I-829)
Fiscal Year(s): 2005-2012 (Third Quarter)
Fiscal
Year
I-526 I-829
Receip
ts
Approval
s
Denial
s
Approv
al %
Receipt
s
Approval
s
Denial
s
Approv
al %
2005 332 179 156 53% 37 184 112 62%
2006 486 336 124 73% 89 106 108 50%
2007 776 473 148 76% 194 111 49 69%
2008 1,257 640 120 84% 390 159 68 70%
2009 1,028 1,262 207 86% 437 347 56 86%
2010 1,955 1,369 165 89% 768 274 56 83%
2011 3,805 1,563 371 81% 2,345 1,067 46 96%
2012 4,156 3,002 775 79% 546 639 42 94%
Grand
Total
13,795 8,824 2,066 81% 4,806 2,887 537 84%
Data: Based on June Preliminary 2012 Data
12. Upcoming EB-5 quota for Chinese Nationals
• Not currently in effect
• Expected to be adopted some time during FY 2013
• When implemented, will negatively impact the total time
of EB-5 petitions, especially for Chinese Nationals
14. VooDoo BBQ & Grill Overview
• VooDoo BBQ & Grill opened its first store on St. Charles Avenue in
New Orleans in 2002
• There are currently a total of 54 (combined) active and licensed
locations
• Experienced and successful development and operations team with
over 10 years of success in various national franchise operations and
proven track record of success.
15. VooDoo BBQ & Grill
54 active and licensed locations
Louisiana – 14 stores
Texas – 5 stores
Mississippi - 1 store
South Carolina – 7 stores
North Carolina – 1 store
Florida – 26 stores (1 currently open)
Future expansion of store locations scheduled in
Georgia, Alabama, Washington D.C., Virginia, Nebraska and Maryland in
2012-2013.
16. VooDoo BBQ & Grill – New Florida Stores
All Located in a TEA
Pembroke Pines
151 N Hiatus Rd.
Pembroke Pines, FL
VooDoo BBQ Kendall
8268 Mills Dr.
Kendall, FL
VooDoo BBQ & Grill
3201 N. Miami Ave.
Miami, FL.
17. VooDoo BBQ & Grill – New Florida Stores
All Located in a TEA
Ft. Lauderdale
6300 Andrews Ave
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Delray Beach
640 E. Atlantic Ave
Delray, FL
Las Olas
901 Las Olas Blvd.
Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
18. VooDoo BBQ & Grill – New Florida Stores
All Located in a TEA
Palm Beach
1951 N. Military Trail
W. Palm Beach, FL.
Miami
11327 S. Dixie Hwy
Miami, FL.
19. Jack Flechner – President of BBQ Boyz, LLC
The President and Director of Operations, Jack Flechner, is an
attorney who graduated from the University of Maryland, School of
Law in 1998 and from the Smith School of Business at the University
of Maryland, College Park in 1994 with a BS in Marketing. He has
been a successful operator of many varied businesses in the
mortgage, title and real estate fields, and oversaw the growth and
operations of his real estate businesses to include operations in over
ten states, with more than 15 offices and annual revenue of over
$50,000,000.
Most recently Mr. Flechner developed and operated the fast food
concept of Five Guys Burgers and Fries in the greater Miami area.
Five Guys Burger & Fries has been one of the fastest growing
restaurant chains in the United States over the last ten years, and
currently has approximately 900 stores in the United States and
Canada. Mr. Flechner’s Five Guys Burger restaurants were
consistently recognized as some of the highest grossing and best
run locations in the entire system. Many Five Guys corporate
people as well as other franchisees frequently visited his stores to
learn how to run successful high-grossing stores in a challenging
environment. In fact, his store located in Miami Beach, Florida was
in the top 5 highest-grossing stores in the country. Recently, Mr.
Flechner sold his interest in the Five Guys franchise so he could
devote his full time and attention to the development of VooDoo
restaurants in the State of Florida.
Tony Avila – Chief Executive Officer, VooDoo
BBQ & Grill
Antonio Avila has served as Chief Executive
Officer of VooDoo BBQ Franchising, LLC since its
inception. After getting his CPA from Louisiana
State University Mr. Avila served as Supervising
Senior Tax Specialist for KPMG, LLC in Baton
Rouge, Louisiana from August 1997 to April 2002.
He then served as chief Financial Officer of
VooDoo BBQ, LLC in New Orleans, Louisiana until
January 2004. Mr. Avila then served for two years
as Chief Operating Officer of Delta Administrative
Services, LLC in Metairie, Louisiana; and in 2004
he became Chief Executive Officer of VOODOO
BBQ & GRILL LLC d/b/a VooDoo BBQ & Grill in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Since Mr. Avila became
CEO in 2004, he has overseen the growth of
VooDoo from just two locations to more than 53
locations currently operating or under development
throughout Louisiana, South Carolina, North
Carolina, Florida, and Texas, with additional
locations to be developed in Washington D.C.,
Virginia and Maryland in 2012-2013.
Background VooDoo BBQ & Grill
Restaurants
23. About the Regional Center : The Palm Beach Regional Center (“PBRC” ) has been fully
approved as an EB-5 Regional Center, and was federally designated by the United States
Citizens & Immigration Service (“USCIS”) in September 2008. The Palm Beach Regional
Center has a current track record of 100% success rate on all previous EB-5 I-526
applications and has successfully offered four (4) previous Restaurant offerings.
About the Business: The VooDoo BBQ franchise has been nationally recognized with
multiple food awards and is poised to become one of the largest national BBQ Restaurant
franchises in the United States with fifty four (54) operating and licensed locations and
development sites in Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Florida with additional plans to expand into Georgia, Alabama and Washington, D.C.
Investment Summary
24. About the Borrower: These twenty four (24) Voodoo BBQ & Grill Restaurants will be owned and
operated by the BBQ Boyz, LLC development group which currently holds the exclusive development rights
of current and future Voodoo BBQ Restaurants in the State of Florida. The BBQ Boyz is a team of
experienced and successful Restaurant Operators who have successfully owned and operated multiple
national fast food franchise locations in the South Florida markets with more than $18,000,000 in annual
sales.
Escrow of Funds: All investment funds and the Administrative Fee are held in a third party escrow
account and are fully refundable if the I-526 petition is denied by USCIS.
Collateral for EB-5 investors: In the current offerings, an undefined total of 20 (twenty) to 24(twenty-
four) restaurant locations that are being partially funded through EB-5 participation are free and clear of any
mortgages or debt. The business, operations, inventory and all furniture, fixtures and equipment (FF&E) are
owned by the operators. The EB-5 Participants are provided a fully executed mortgage or lien on all assets of
the business which entitles them to full security through all cash flow and assets of the business.
Investment Summary
25. Operational Summary
The VooDoo BBQ & Grill project will be administered through the Palm Beach Regional
Center (“PBRC”) – a USCIS approved and federally designated Regional Center, which
was approved in September 2008 and has a geographic territory which includes Palm
Beach, Broward Miami-Dade, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, Okeechobee and Hendry
Counties, Florida, USA.
Investment into LP
Loan from LP to LLC
Operated by Franchisee
26. Restaurant Sales Growth
Type of Restaurant
• Casual Dining
• Chili’s, Olive Garden, Red Lobster
• Fast Casual
• Panera, Chipotle, Lime, VooDoo
BBQ & Grill
• Quick Service / Fast Food
• McDonalds
2008 - 2012 Growth
157,591
159,010
162,985
168,527
173,751
145,000
150,000
155,000
160,000
165,000
170,000
175,000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
US$Million
Fast-Casual
Fast-Casual
National Restaurant
Assoc.
28. Florida Tourism
Facts:
International visitors (4%) spend more per traveler than U.S.domestic travelers, representing
19 % of total travel-related spending and 17% of all food and beverage spending.
VISIT FLORIDA Research
82.3
87.3
90.5
78
80
82
84
86
88
90
92
2010 2011 2012
Visitors(Millions)
Visitors per Year
29. U.S. Restaurant Sales Growth
(by State)
Top 8 States
• North Dakota
• Texas
• Florida
• Wyoming
• Maryland
• South Carolina
• Utah
• Alaska
Growth
• 4.1%
• 4.1%
• 3.9%
• 3.7%
• 3.7%
• 3.6%
• 3.6%
• 3.5%
30. About our Location
Florida Restaurant Franchise Group will be developing from 20 to 24 stores in the
largest economic centers of Florida, with locations in areas such as Miami, Broward and
Palm Beach counties.
Florida is known for its strong tourism and trade industries, Florida attractions such as
Disney World, Universal Studios, South Beach, West Palm Beach and Miami, are
among the most sought-after locations for both international and domestic travelers.
Florida is the 4th most populous of the 50 states in the United States of America.
Florida is the 4th largest economy in the United States, with a GDP of 748 billion in
2010, and as of 2010, Florida became the 4th largest exporter of trade goods.
Aside from its great weather and extensive coastline, the State of Florida attracts
wealthy individuals as it is one of the seven states that do not impose state taxes. The
state capital is Tallahassee, its largest city is Jacksonville, and the Miami metropolitan
area is the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern United States.
31. About our Location
VooDoo BBQ & Grill will be developing restaurant locations in the four major metropolitan areas of
Florida - Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa & Jacksonville. Due to its tremendous
tourism, many people from Europe and South America come to Florida simply to shop for several
days and then go back to their native country. Obviously eating goes hand in hand with such
shopping excursions. Also young adults favor attending one of the many reputable colleges and
universities in the state and most of them are located in the major metro areas, increasing our
potential to attract young crowds.
Within the last decade, there has been tremendous growth and building of new and attractive retail
centers. Due to the general economic hard times, VooDoo BBQ & Grill was able to secure
tremendous A+ locations and enter into long term leases, not feasible a few years ago.