Raphael De Niro, partners to develop Shanghai mega project

From left: Raphael De Niro and the Bund, Shanghai
From left: Raphael De Niro and the Bund, Shanghai

Raphael De Niro, star Douglas Elliman broker and son of actor Robert De Niro, is teaming up with his famous dad and five other partners to develop an 850,000-square-foot complex in Shanghai’s financial district.

Dubbed Project 179 after the municipally-designated blocks of land, the development would restore four buildings that are currently vacant and include a new fifth structure in a design geared to mimic 1920s Shanghai.

The De Niros will work with Ira Drukier and Richard Born of BD Hotels, Sam Natapoff of Empire Global Ventures, Wilson Lu of Amerasia S&T Corp and Tribeca Enterprises to develop the site.

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The site will ultimately include an 80,000-square-foot, boutique five-star hotel in the vein of the Greenwich and Bowery Hotels — developed by Robert De Niro, Drukier and Born in New York City — more than 200,000 square feet of retail space, restaurants, a performance center and a multi-screen cinema.

“Project 179 will bring a little of New York City to Shanghai so that two of the great cities of the world will live together in the Bund,” Natapoff, president of Empire Global, said in a release. — Julie Strickland