A real estate tycoon who built billions worth of real estate in China is set to build a luxury condominium on the Upper East Side as her first project in the U.S.
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Closer Properties, the Manhattan-based owner and developer founded and led by Zhang Xin, closed an all-cash deal for five adjacent parcels at the intersection of East 79th Street and Lexington Avenue, according to a release.
She plans on tearing down the existing structures on the site starting next year and replacing them with a 100K SF luxury condo building with ground-floor retail and a new address, 150 E. 79th St.
“This transaction exemplifies Closer Properties' development thesis to build amenity-rich boutique condominiums, at prime locations in New York City's historic neighborhoods,” Xin said in a statement, adding that the deal gives the developer an opportunity to add ground-up development to its New York City portfolio after 20 years of investing in the market.
Closer Properties acquired 150, 152 and 154 E. 79th St., plus 1131 and 1135 Lexington Ave., for $62.5M from W Financial. A deal for the sixth and final parcel in between the two Lexington Avenue properties is expected to close next June for $13.5M and will complete the assemblage.
Avison Young’s James Nelson, Erik Edeen, Brandon Polakoff, Alexandra Marolda, Charles Kingsley and Eric Karmitz represented W Financial.
Closer Properties oversees Xin’s family real estate firm, which has a portfolio worth roughly $5B. The company is targeting acquisitions and development opportunities in NYC and Boston.
Xin, who was the founder and co-CEO of influential Chinese office developer Soho China, is known as the “woman who built Beijing” for the firm’s 54M SF of developments that shaped Beijing's and Shanghai's skylines.
She began investing in NYC in 2011, first buying a stake in Park Avenue Plaza and investing $1B in the General Motors Building two years later.
“Xin is a visionary, and I'm excited to be working with her as she embarks on this new chapter,” Closer Properties President Jason Kaufman, previously of Silverstein Properties, said in a statement.
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