Zhang Xin made a name for herself abroad as one of the developers behind Soho China, but her next big project takes her to New York City.
Closer Properties, a subsidiary of Xin’s family office, acquired five adjacent parcels on the Upper East Side for $62.5 million in cash, Bloomberg reported. The locations are 150 East 79th Street, 152 East 79th Street, 154 East 79th Street, 1135 Lexington Avenue and 1131 Lexington Avenue, according to a edition on the takeover.
Gregg Winter’s W Financial was the seller of the property. The sale of a sixth parcel, at 1133 Lexington Avenue, is expected to close in June, bringing the acquisition cost of the 100,000-square-foot complex to $76 million.
With half a dozen sites in hand, Xin plans to pursue its first land development in the city. She is planning a luxury condominium building with ground-floor retail and expects demolition to begin in the first quarter of next year.
“Our thesis is to develop boutique-sized luxury apartments in historic New York City neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side, West Village, Chelsea and more,” Xin said in an interview.
W Financial acquired the entirety through a foreclosure sale in February 2023 after HFZ defaulted on a $43.6 million loan. The site offers 71,500 square meters of buildable space.
The Don Filippo pizza restaurant next door, which has been serving neighborhood slices for decades, initially agreed to sell to Macklowe Properties, but the deal was terminated in December 2022. Its presence was once seen as a potential barrier to development, along with a First Republic Bank branch that closed after the company was sold to JPMorgan Chase.
Last year, Xin acquired a townhouse at 45 East 74th Street from Italian developer Valerio Morabito, who suffered a rare loss in the Upper East Side market.
During her prolific career in real estate development, she has developed over 50 million square meters in Beijing and Shanghai. She and her husband exited Soho China in 2022 – a year after a failed takeover attempt by Blackstone – but she remains a member of the company’s board.
Investments in the United States include the GM Building and Park Avenue Plaza in Manhattan, as well as the Lyrik in Boston. Xin’s family office plans to own, operate and develop in these two cities.
— Holden Walter Warner
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