Zhang Xin's Closer Properties Pulls UES Demolition Permit

Zhang Xin’s Closer Properties has a Department of Buildings permit in hand to fully demolish the four-story building at 150 East 79th Street on the Upper East Side, and public records show the firm has already recorded a deal for more air rights from a neighboring Lexington Avenue property so it can build a bigger condominium tower than it first planned.

Why it matters

Zhang Xin, who co-founded SOHO China and built some of Beijing’s most recognizable commercial projects including Galaxy SOHO, paid $63M in cash last year to assemble the 79th Street site, according to Crain’s New York Business. Crain’s reported this month that she is now seeking air rights from nearby landmark properties to expand the project. ACRIS confirms it: an easement (document ID 2026091500171003, CRFN 2026000265779) recorded Sept. 17, 2026 moves a 100 percent interest from 1129 Lexington Partners LLC to CP 79th Street LLC, Closer Properties’ holding entity at 11 East 51st Street. A companion declaration recorded the same week brings in the Board of Managers of the 151 East 78th Street Condominium, the kind of zoning-lot paperwork that has to be in place before a developer can stack borrowed air rights onto a site.

On the ground, DOB records show the demolition is no longer theoretical. Job filing M01362983-I1 for the site’s four-story building was approved Aug. 12, 2026 and reached “Permit Entire” status Sept. 22, 2026, filed by Ancora Engineering PLLC under PE James M. Patterson with Expedite Dem Inc handling the filing. A related sidewalk-shed and protection filing on the same BIN followed in July and August.

The numbers

The $63M cash purchase, the 100 percent air-rights interest now recorded against the lot, and a demolition permit covering the existing 2,448-square-foot, four-story structure line up with Crain’s framing of a developer scaling up rather than merely replacing what is there. The identity of the counterparty, 1129 Lexington Partners LLC, is itself notable: it is the entity giving up air rights rather than the more commonly reported condo board, suggesting at least two separate instruments fed the assemblage’s expanded envelope.

What’s next

Watch for a new-building DOB filing once demolition clears the lot, which would be the first public disclosure of the unit count and floor area Zhang Xin is actually planning now that the air rights are secured. For more on development moving through Manhattan, see our New York market coverage.