FlexPath Immigration Partners was founded in February 2026 by Jeff DeCicco and John Eknoian, who have extensive experience in EB-5, corporate credit, and private equity. They launched the firm recognizing a unique opportunity in an existing, cash-flowing franchise business.
Their approach emphasizes financial stability and risk management, ensuring projects are well-supported by evaluating the capital stack and developer equity. This strategy aims to minimize risks in the EB-5 space, they said.
A novel approach to EB-5 underwriting and project selection
“When my partner and I launched FlexPath, John — being a corporate credit and private equity guy, and new to EB-5 — asked me, ‘Why do projects fail? Give me some examples,’” DeCicco said.
That question became the foundation for FlexPath’s underwriting framework. The firm looks for six qualities in the EB-5 projects it sponsors: immigration certainty, advanced project status, execution simplicity, timely capital deployment, a complete capital stack, and an early path to stabilization. “We may not always be able to nail all six in every project, but that’s our target,” DeCicco said.
FlexPath does not operate the businesses behind its projects; it acts as the EB-5 sponsor, underwriter, structuring party, and capital provider, with a focus on deployment, sustainment, reporting, and repayment.
In practice, the firm favors projects with clear financing, simpler construction, timely capital deployment, and a faster route to revenue generation. “EB-5 doesn’t need the challenge of an overcomplicated buildout,” DeCicco said.
The clearest red flag, in FlexPath’s view, is a project that launches before it is truly market-ready — one that begins raising capital while essential pieces are still missing, whether complete financing, permits, construction readiness, or committed developer equity.
The firm is equally wary of deals in which EB-5 capital may sit idle after investors subscribe. Even a project that is complete from a capital-stack standpoint can be a year or more away from actually deploying that capital — and when money is raised far ahead of when it will be put to work, the clock on an investor’s commitment stretches accordingly. What looks like a five-year deal can quietly become a six- or seven-year one.
DeCicco also encourages investors to scrutinize the quality of a developer’s equity — specifically, whether it is actual cash or simply reappraised land value. “This is an important nuance that often gets lost — and it can mean the developer has far less at risk than the headline number suggests,” he noted.
An EB-5 project featuring equity-heavy structure
This concern helps explain the capital structure behind FlexPath’s current EB-5 offering, K9 Resorts, a premium canine boarding and daycare franchise brand. The project has an equity-heavy structure unusual for EB-5: approximately 73% sponsor equity, 16% EB-5 capital, and 11% senior debt. For investors, the sponsor equity acts as a first-loss cushion beneath EB-5 capital, while relatively low senior debt means fewer obligations sit ahead of EB-5 investors.
The K9 Resorts opportunity was brought to Eknoian and DeCicco by Phil Nisbet, Eknoian’s former business partner — with whom he co-founded World Insurance Associates, now one of the largest insurance brokerages in the U.S., backed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management and Charlesbank. It became compelling once they saw that the expensive, repeatable buildouts could support EB-5 job creation while giving the operating business a more efficient source of expansion capital.
“We had some back and forth, checking with the EB-5 economists, immigration lawyers, security lawyers, and not only does it work, but it fits well within the EB-5 construct,” Eknoian added.
The franchisee platform that is expanding and operating the K9 Resorts system is Luxury Pet Hotels, Inc. (LPHI). They already operate 18 K9 Resorts locations. FlexPath is financing four additional K9 Resorts locations.
In many real estate EB-5 deals, repayment depends on completing, stabilizing, and refinancing or selling one asset. With K9 Resorts, repayment is supported by LPHI’s broader enterprise, including existing resorts, future locations, its ownership stake in the franchisor, and the platform’s overall value.
The locations are also eligible to support EB-5 job creation. “Each location costs roughly $3 to $4 million to build, partly because of specialized infrastructure such as sanitation and air filtration systems,” DeCicco explains. “That expense helps us because it leads to job creation.”
The franchise model is repeatable and uses site-selection criteria such as population density, household income, and competitive analysis. LPHI also owns 22% of the franchisor and has a joint venture for additional locations, strengthening its integration with the K9 Resorts system.
“It’s an operating business, not just a construction project. We cannot emphasize enough the importance of the sponsorship team involved, the certainty surrounding immigration, and the amount of equity committed to the project,” Eknoian said. That sponsorship includes UOB Global Capital and Alan Leibman, former CEO of Kerzner International, the company behind the Atlantis and One&Only resort brands. “A combination of sponsorship and institutional expertise like this won’t be easy to replicate in future deals,” he said.
FlexPath’s broader view of EB-5
FlexPath believes EB-5 needs stronger underwriting discipline, clearer capital structures, and better alignment between investor protection and immigration requirements.
“FlexPath is underwriting driven. That won’t change, regardless of where the [EB-5 project] demand lies,” DeCicco said.
The higher interest-rate environment has also improved EB-5’s negotiating position. “In a higher interest rate environment, EB-5 becomes more appealing,” he said. DeCicco said he does not anticipate “significant changes to the structure of the program,” though he expects enhanced oversight and remains optimistic about EB-5’s long-term role as a pathway for permanent relocation to the U.S.
Learn more by signing up for our upcoming July 22 webinar, where Flexpath will share how EB-5 capital can support the expansion of cash-flowing operating businesses as an alternative to traditional ground-up development. Register now!
DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this article are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher, its employees. or its affiliates. The information found on this website is intended to be general information; it is not legal or financial advice. Specific legal or financial advice can only be given by a licensed professional with full knowledge of all the facts and circumstances of your particular situation. You should seek consultation with legal, immigration, and financial experts prior to participating in the EB-5 program Posting a question on this website does not create an attorney-client relationship. All questions you post will be available to the public; do not include confidential information in your question.
