Advertisements for a new residential development in Brooklyn are offering Chinese buyers a chance to get in on the action from afar.
Chinese firm Xinyuan Real Estate snapped up the Oosten condominium project at Williamsburg’s 429 Kent Avenue for $54.2 million in October, and is now touting the property on Soufun.com, China’s largest real estate website. A total of 216 condomnium units averaging 2,000 square feet each are planned for the project, which is the first U.S. development site to be purchased by a Chinese firm.
Promotional materials on the site feature artist’s renderings of the project, photos of life in New York and images of Xinyuan officials at functions in the U.S. The site also lists a toll-free phone number in the People’s Republic which potential Chinese buyers can call to reach sales staff in China to make purchases at the Brooklyn development. There is no mention of financing channels on the website, according to Forbes.
The site says that construction restarted in November, and that the project had foundation work in place at the time of Xinyuan’s purchase. A projected completion date is not specified — vagaries that are less worrisome to Chinese buyers who are more comfortable purchasing real estate that has not yet been completed in anticipation of rising housing prices, according to Forbes. [Forbes] — Julie Strickland