Updated at 4 p.m., 1/21/2108

If lenders make good on their threat to foreclose on Frisco's Wade Park project, it won't be just the developers that are affected.

Foreign investors who are putting millions into the project are worried they will be hurt, too.

The $2 billion mixed-use development is one of the largest planned along the Dallas North Tollway in Collin County and has been in the works for four years.

This month, lenders who have provided more than $130 million in loans for the project have declared the developer in default and have scheduled a forced sale to repay the debt.

The pending foreclosure has caught the attention of dozens of foreign investors who pledged money to the Wade Park project as a way to obtain legal U.S. immigration status.

"Recent news of foreclosures and liens on the project has got us worried as our immigration depends on this project," an investor in India wrote in an email.

Abhishek Saraf said there are about 30 investors who agreed to provide funding for Wade Park in return for U.S. residency.

The foreigners who invested in the deal were to provide $25 million in funding for the first phase of the 175-acre development at the tollway and Lebanon Road, according to information from NYSA EB-5, an Atlanta company that specializes in these types of projects.

The company — an arm of NYSA Capital LLC — also has offices in Beijing, Delhi, Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo where it solicits funds from investors for U.S. real estate projects. Each investor must commit a minimum of a half-million dollars to obtain a green card for permanent U.S. residency.

So-called EB-5 investments have been used to successfully finance major real estate developments across the U.S., including redevelopment of the landmark Statler Hotel in downtown Dallas.

NYSA EB-5 also raised money for a mixed-use project on Lake Michigan.

On its website, NYSA EB-5 says the firm is going to be a major source of funding for the first $64.8 million phase of Wade Park, which was to include a Whole Foods grocery store-anchored retail center.

Work stopped several months ago on the retail strip along Lebanon Road, and contractors have filed millions of dollars in liens against the project for unpaid bills.

Officials with Wade Park's developer Stan Thomas' Atlanta-based Thomas Land & Development say they are working with lenders Gamma Real Estate of New York and Bamcap Partners of Farmers Branch to avoid the foreclosure scheduled for March 6.

"NYSA staff constantly monitor projects and are very much aware that business discussions are indeed on-going between Mr. Thomas and the lenders that you have made reference to regarding their loan status," NYSA Capital chairman George Foresman said in an email. "We are also aware of similar discussions that Mr. Thomas is likewise having with various vendors regarding the construction liens.

"To be clear, NYSA's commitment on any project is to aggressively manage, monitor and mitigate investor risk, from project concept through its successful completion."