Bentley Zhao’s New Empire Real Estate Development forked over $34 million for a newly built condominium building in Hell’s Kitchen, according to property records filed with the city Friday.
The Brooklyn-based developer — which is developing several other condos in the neighborhood — snapped up 351 West 54th Street from David Paz’s Omnia Group. Omnia recently completed construction of the condo building in partnership with Naveh Shuster Limited and Northwind Group.
The developers, who paid $8 million for the site in 2012, replaced a two-story commercial building with a seven-story building that houses 33 units across roughly 26,750 square feet. That breaks down to an average apartment size of about 810 feet. Two ground-floor apartments are duplexes with cellar space.
The deal is New Empire’s latest bet on the neighborhood. It recently filed plans for a seven-story residential building at 424 West 52nd Street that will have seven full-floor condos. It’s also planning a seven-unit condo at 409 West 45th Street.
New Empire is also developing a 112-unit condo at 131 East 47th Street, which Zhao bought for $81 million from Extell Development in 2015. The site will house a 49-story tower.
New Empire is based in Sunset Park, where Zhao also operates the New Empire EB-5 Regional Center. The regional center is raising funds from foreign investors for several condo projects, Including The 45th Street condo and a 105-unit building in Prospect Park South. New Empire recently filed plans for a 56-unit condo in Sheepshead Bay that has a projected sellout of $43 million.
Representatives for the developer couldn’t immediately be reached.
(To view more properties owned by New Empire, click here)