Congressional negotiators are near agreement on a reform package for an immigrant investor program that could clear a funding issue for a $105 million convention center hotel in Des Moines, but even if the the program survives, it will not be used to pay a funding gap on an Olympic-size pool at the Wellmark YMCA.

Sens. Charles Grassley of Iowa and Patrick Leahy of Vermont said in a joint release late last week that a bipartisan, bicameral agreement had been reached on the basic elements of reforms to the federal EB-5 program, which provides green cards for wealthy immigrants who invest in economic development projects.

The program has come under intense scrutiny in recent years after a government report found that while the program has helped create U.S. jobs and advance economic development projects, it also was a breeding ground for fraud.

A $20 million EB-5 investment would serve as a mezzanine loan for construction of the Iowa Events Center Hotel at Fifth Avenue and Park Street near the Iowa Events Center. The program was set to expire Sept. 30 but was reauthorized as part of an emergency funding package for the federal budget. That extension was set to expire today. However, the Senate has approved a five-day extension of the federal budget to Dec. 16 and the House is expected to approve the extension later today.

The YMCA of Greater Des Moines sought an estimated $8 million in EB-5 funds to build the 50-meter swimming pool, which has been billed as a revenue-generating feature that could attract Olympic swimming trials and other high-profile events to the Wellmark YMCA. An 1,800-seat auditorium is planned for the pool. Although the Wellmark YMCA has been open since the first of the year, vacant ground adjacent to it is the only indication that a swimming pool might be coming.

Funding for the pool has encountered a range of complications. Two efforts to obtain federal new market tax credits have been unsuccessful and the YMCA lost a bid to receive state brownfield tax credits.

Patrick Hogan, who is mustering the application for convention center hotel funds through the federal agencies that now have oversight of the EB-5 program, said his company, CMB Regional Centers in Rock Island, Ill., cannot support the pool project.

CMB Regional Centers, which Hogan founded, is mustering Iowa projects on behalf of the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Hogan also has been active in efforts to reform the EB-5 program. Hogan said it is not clear how the YMCA would have paid EB-5 investors.

“The point is the likelihood of us getting repaid would have been a hard sell to the investor,” he said. “EB-5 is not a grant program.”

However, Hogan was optimistic about the chances that a reform bill will breathe new life into the EB-5 program and allow it participate in the convention center hotel project.

“The Des Moines hotel project, from an EB-5 standpoint, is alive and well,” he said. “Everything that is out there so far has been favorable. The summary (of the reform package) is favorable to them.” He was quick to caution that “I can’t make any promises.”

Polk County Administrator Mark Wandro has said the county would provide the $20 million by refinancing debt on the Iowa Events Center if the EB-5 funds were not available.

“We’re just sitting on the sidelines and waiting for Congress to act,” he said.