SOHO China founder pays $62.6M for dev site in Lenox Hill, in contract for adjacent parcel

Closer Group, the family office for SOHO China co-founder Zhang Xin, through the entity CP 79th Street LLC paid $62.6 million to W Financial through the entity W 79th Street Owner LLC for the five-parcel development site at the corner of East 79th Street and Lexington Avenue, including the three-unit mixed-use building (K4) at 154 East 79th Street, the two-unit mixed-use building (K4) at 152 East 79th Street, 1135 Lexington Avenue and and two-unit mixed-use building (K4) at 150 East 79th Street all in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.
The deal closed on October 21, 2025 and was recorded on October 23, 2025. The five properties have 18,498 square feet of built space and 41,064 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 59,560 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The sale price per built square foot is $3,383 and the price per buildable square foot is $1,050 per the PincusCo analysis. (The price per square foot analysis is the transaction price divided by square feet as reported in public records and assumes no air rights have been sold.)
The signatory for W Financial was David Heiden . The signatory for Closer Group was Geoff Wilson. The contract date was September 4, 2025. The properties were part of a foreclosure case in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, index number 850128/2021, in which W Financial as lender acquired the property.

In addition, the Closer Group through the entity Cp 79th Street LLC signed a contract to pay an undisclosed amount to Benjamin Klapper through the entity Bk Lexington Associates LLC for the two-unit mixed-use building (S9) at 1133 Lexington Avenue in Lenox Hill, Manhattan. The expected use is ground up development.

Prior sales and revenue

Prior to this transaction, PincusCo has no record that the buyer Closer Group had purchased any other properties and has no record it sold any properties over the past 24 months.
The seller W Financial had not purchased any other properties and had not sold any properties over the same time period. The five properties with a total of 18,498 square feet of built space generated revenue of $2.3 million per year or $125 per square foot. The sale price per square foot was $3,384.

The property

The retail building in Lenox Hill has 18,498 square feet of built space and 41,064 square feet of additional air rights for a total buildable of 59,560 square feet according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 68 feet and is 18 feet deep with a total lot size of 1,224 square feet. The zoning is R10A which allows for up to 10 times floor area ratio (FAR) for residential with inclusionary housing. The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $10.4 million.

Violations and lawsuits

There were no lawsuits or bankruptcies filed against the properties for the past 24 months. In addition, according to city public data, the properties have received $1,600 in OATH penalties in the last year.

Development

For the tax lot buildings, one out of the five buildings received a initial certificate of occupancy in the last ten years. There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.

The neighborhood

In Lenox Hill, The bulk, or 34 percent of the 53.3 million square feet of commercial built space are elevator buildings, with specialty buildings next occupying 30 percent of the space. In sales, Lenox Hill has the highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $4.4 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Lenox Hill has 2.1 times the average amount of major developments relative to other neighborhoods and is the 12th highest in Manhattan. It had 3.1 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 6 percent of the neighborhood’s built space.

The block

On the tax block of 1135 Lexington Avenue, PincusCo has identified the owners of seven of the 15 commercial properties representing 30,003 square feet of the 116,461 square feet. The largest owner is W Financial, followed by Actus Consulting Group and then Benjamin Klapper.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.

The majority, or 44 percent of the 116,461 square feet of built space are mixed-use buildings, with walkup buildings next occupying 37 percent of the space.

The seller

The PincusCo database currently indicates that W Financial owned at least five commercial properties with seven residential units in New York City with 16,014 square feet and a city-determined market value of $17.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 85 percent of the 16,014 square feet of built space are mixed-use properties, with retail properties next occupying 15 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.

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Direct link to Acris document. link