Soho China tycoon Zhang Xin buys land in NYC’s Upper East Side for luxury condos
Beijing-born developer’s Closer Properties buys five adjacent parcels for US$62.5 million to build ‘amenity-rich boutique condominiums’
Zhang Xin, a Chinese property billionaire whose co-founded company Soho China was behind many projects that gave Beijing its futuristic skyline, has acquired land in a prestigious residential neighbourhood in New York City for a luxury condominium development.
Manhattan-based Closer Properties, led by Zhang, acquired five adjacent parcels on the city’s Upper East Side in a cash transaction totalling US$62.5 million, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Closer, which develops, owns and operates properties in Boston as well as New York City, planned to acquire a sixth parcel in an adjacent area in June 2026, bringing the total investment to US$76 million, it said. Demolition of existing buildings is scheduled to begin in the first quarter.
The firm planned to develop the site into a luxury condominium with a full suite of amenities and ground-floor retail space, the statement said.
“This transaction exemplifies Closer Properties’ development thesis to build amenity-rich boutique condominiums at prime locations in New York City’s historic neighbourhoods,” Zhang said in the statement. “New York is one of the world’s most valuable property markets, and I’ve invested in this city for nearly 20 years.”
Zhang was born in Beijing and moved to Hong Kong with her family when she was 14. She later studied at Cambridge and worked as a Wall Street investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
