HFZ’s Chelsea condo now effective, with 16% of units sold

Latest amendment to condo’s offering plan offers rare insight into sales at the XI in Chelsea

HFZ Capital’s condo the XI has sold 38 of its 236 units (iStock)
HFZ Capital’s condo the XI has sold 38 of its 236 units (iStock)

HFZ Capital Group has long been quiet about sales at the XI, its High Line-adjacent condominium.

But a new amendment to the condo offering plan has offered rare insight into the number of contracts signed at the project’s twisting towers since sales launched in 2018.

According to the amendment, which was filed with the attorney general’s office and made public this week, 38 units have gone into contract as of this April. That represents 16 percent of the total 236 condos.

The milestone, which was previously reported by The Real Deal but has now been put in writing by the developer, means the offering plan is “effective” and buyers can begin to close their deals.

HFZ Capital did not respond to a request for comment.

The developer has been under pressure of late. Last week, TRD reported that junior mezzanine positions on four of HFZ’s New York condo projects — not including the XI — are being marketed through a foreclosure sale. Such a sale would afford the bidder “indirect interest” in the properties, according to marketing materials from Newmark Knight Frank.

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The Bjarke Ingels-designed XI has also faced challenges: It launched sales after the high point of the luxury condo boom, when deals slowed across the high-end market and inventory began piling up. That trend only intensified this year after the state stopped in-person home showings in March, though market interest and activity in Manhattan has begun to slowly pick up again.

HFZ paid $870 million, or roughly $1,100 per square foot, for the site in 2015, making it one of the priciest land deals in New York City history. The project, which will include a hotel, was funded with a $1.25 billion construction loan from the Children’s Investment Fund in 2017.

Units at the building range from a one-bedroom measuring 878 square feet, asking $2.6 million, to a $75 million penthouse with 6,925 square feet of interior space and 4,963 square feet of exterior space, according to the latest amendment. The buyer of another penthouse, priced at $34 million, was identified last year as New Zealand billionaire Graeme Hart.

The latest records also offer insight into some of the changes planned for the building. The buyer of unit 6E and 6F has requested that the units be combined, for example; and the buyer of 24A in the west tower has requested that their property and neighboring 24D be reconfigured and a portion of the hallway merged into their units. The changes are still subject to approval from the Department of Buildings.