Queens developer ZD Jasper planted its flag in Manhattan with a trio of land deals. Now it has condo projects planned for each of those sites.
The newly filed third one, on the Upper East Side, will be 16 or 17 stories and 25 units at 171 East 86th Street, on the northwest corner of Third Avenue.
Archimaera is the architect of record for the 80,000-square-foot structure. The property has an alternative address of 1530 Third Avenue. ZD Jasper has more than 300 condo units planned or underway at Hudson Yards.
“Since Covid, the Upper East Side has proven to be a new-development darling,” said Robin Schneiderman, managing director of Brown Harris Stevens Development Marketing, which is working with ZD Jasper on the Third Avenue project.
Demolition at the site is expected to start soon. Above the lobby, the condominium will have two units per floor up to the 11th floor, where a setback will mark the transition to full-floor units. Most units will have three or four bedrooms, according to Schneiderman.
ZD Jasper bought the development site from Gary Barnett’s Extell Development in late 2023 for $29 million, which translates to $485 per square foot of developed real estate. Extell acquired the site in 2021 for $21 million, then added 10,000 square feet of air rights.
A dispute at the Third Avenue site with New York eatery Papaya King, known for pairing hot dogs with tropical juice drinks, had delayed the sale; Barnett accused the restaurant in court of continuing to do business after its lease ended. The lawsuit was later settled.
Hopes for the return of the Papaya King were recently dashed, according to the Daily News, after prior reports that the restaurant would reopen across Third Avenue.
Tom Zhidong Wu founded ZD Jasper in 1996, according to the firm’s website. His son Jasper had an active role in the three land deals that extended the company’s reach into Manhattan from Queens, where it has been a steady builder of condos and rentals.
Opportunities for new condo development have been limited by rising construction costs and a difficult land market since Covid triggered an exodus from New York City.
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