A developer who helped shape Beijing's skyline is now angling for extra height on Manhattan's Upper East Side. Zhang Xin's firm, Closer Properties, is seeking roughly 8,000 square feet of unused air rights from two landmarked 1861 rowhouses to boost a planned luxury condominium at 150 E. 79th St., near Lexington Avenue.
The push was detailed in a report from Crain's New York, which identified the project site at 150 E. 79th St. on the Upper East Side. Community Board 8's Landmarks Committee has already weighed in: the board voted 9-4 to approve a proposal letting the two individually landmarked rowhouses at 159-161 East 78th Street sell off their unused air rights to a development site a block north, according to East Side Feed. That outlet reports the description matches the footprint of a six-parcel assemblage at 150-154 East 79th Street and 1131-1135 Lexington Avenue.
A $76 Million Assemblage Takes Shape
Zhang Xin's Closer Properties acquired that six-parcel assemblage from distressed-debt lender W Financial for a combined $76 million, East Side Feed reports. Per Connect CRE, a sixth parcel at 1133 Lexington Ave. was expected to complete the assemblage when it closed, bringing the total site cost to $76 million and the total footprint to 100,000 gross square feet, with the development address set as 150 E. 79th St.
Closer Properties plans to turn the site into a luxury condominium with a full suite of amenities and ground-floor retail, according to Connect CRE. The firm is led by Zhang Xin; a company release carried by PR Newswire says Closer Properties has a total asset value exceeding $5 billion. That release also credits her as co-founder and former CEO of SOHO China, a firm that developed more than 54 million square feet of projects in Beijing and Shanghai.
How the Air-Rights Swap Would Work
The transferred 8,000 square feet of air rights would add a maximum of two full floors to the receiving site, East Side Feed reports, with inclusionary housing certificates potentially allowing for additional height beyond that. Closer Properties has not publicly disclosed a planned height for the eventual condominium, per the same report.
The mechanism hinges on Section 75-42 of the zoning resolution, which was introduced as part of the City of Yes package in 2025. Before any transfer can be finalized, the application still requires a public hearing at the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and a maintenance plan restrictive declaration must be filed first, East Side Feed notes.
Preservation Strings Attached
Selling off air rights from a landmarked building isn't free of obligations. The rowhouse owners must establish a continuing maintenance plan, conduct full structural and facade inspections every ten years, dedicate 20% of the sale proceeds to initial restoration work, and hold another 10% in escrow for ongoing maintenance, according to East Side Feed's reporting.
Not everyone on the community board was satisfied with how much was disclosed. Several committee members opposed the application specifically because key details about the receiving project and the cash paid to the landmark owners were kept under wraps. “We don't know how much cash they're getting. And then we aren't supposed to even know where the development rights are being transferred to,” one member said, as reported by East Side Feed.
Part of a Broader Air-Rights Trend
Air-rights deals tied to landmarks have become a recurring tool for developers chasing extra height elsewhere in Manhattan. Extell, for instance, entered a contract to acquire 123,000 square feet of air rights from the landmarked St. Thomas Church at 678 Fifth Avenue for $36 million, according to 6sqft. The same firm also struck a deal for 405–415 Park Avenue and air rights from Central Synagogue, a Park Avenue site that 6sqft reports can support roughly 527,000 square feet of development as-of-right, or up to 700,000 square feet with additional air rights layered in.
