The condo building 550 Vanderbilt has been a popular destination for Chinese money. Based on TheRealDeal, at least 20% of the units have been sold to Chinese buyers so far.
Jeremy Wang, partner of the law firm Yeung & Wang PLLC, said his firm flew to Shanghai after hearing about the 17-story condo project in New York. “There was a big rolling out in China,” Wang said, so he went to meet with prospective buyers and found that, “there seemed to be a lot of interest.” Three different law firms seem to have focused on Chinese investors: Yeung & Wang represented 27 Chinese clients ; Yang & Associates PC helped another 17 deals in the building and Jun Wang & Associates represented Chinese clients on another 13 sales.
The units sold for between $575,000 and $2.1 million, and many of them have been put for rent (asking rent between $2,200 and $3,900 a month). An average purchase price of $1mm is common for Chinese buyers. Many Chinese investors seem to focus on condos or houses that have a $1 million asking price. Often this is because these Chinese buyers are having many houses or condos within China and will sell some of those in order to buy a condo in New York, San Francisco or Los Angeles which requires often a $1 million budget.
Wang said most of his clients bought for investment purposes or for their children. Read more around 550 Vanderbilt on TheRealDeal.