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In case you were wondering just who is the market for 421 Kent, a non-Hasidic development in the heart of Hasidic Williamsburg, now we have the answer: Overseas Chinese investors. The site, which takes up an entire block and is 3.75 acres, was stalled for years and traded hands a few times before Beijing-based developer Xinyuan Real Estate Co. bought it for $31,610,034.91 in 2012.

An online ad reveals a ton of news about the development, which appear to be condos. There are also lush new renderings and a name for the property: The Oosten. The ad was spotted by Forbes, which wondered if overseas Chinese would buy property over the Internet sight unseen (the answer: yes) but did not identify the location of the property.

A commenter on the Forbes story claimed the ads tout the Williamsburg property as being in the “Manhattan Central Business District.” The renderings show a man carrying balloons in a central green space, a woman lounging by the side of one of the individual pools on the patio of a ground floor unit, and a businessman on a cell phone looking out over the garden through a bank of floor to ceiling windows. Also pictured in the ads are photos of Citi Bike, bridge and water views, and Williamsburg and Manhattan shopping destinations, including Artists & Fleas.

We’ve heard property in Flushing, Queens, is very popular with overseas Chinese investors. The location on Kent Avenue with views of the water can’t hurt.

We’re wondering how the prices are. We see something that says $74 but we must be missing a few zeros somewhere. Anyone care to translate?

Click through to the jump for more renderings and floor plans.

Update: Prices for one-bedrooms will start around $700,000. Two-bedrooms will start under $900,000, according to a commenter.

421 Kent Avenue Listing [SouFun.com]
Will Beijingers Buy Brooklyn Apartments Over the Internet? [Forbes]
Renderings by Avoid Obvious via SouFun

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What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. Not going to translate the whole thing, but the some of the selling points are:

    Located in Manhattan CBD business/residential district:

    East river luxury codos located in the international finical, transportation, cultural, media center. Williamsburg, Central Brooklyn, NY. On the east side of east river.

    10 mins to Wall Street:
    Transportation includes water taxi(one block away), Subway ( 3 block) and bus. 15mins driving to midtown and towntown Manhattan.

    15 year tax abatement:
    Calculation based on 1mio estamate, in 15 years the tax saving est 25,000 USD.