China Vanke, the mainland's biggest publicly traded developer, is teaming with real estate investor Aby Rosen to build a luxury Manhattan condominium tower for its first project in New York. Rosen's firm, RFR, and Vanke broke ground on Wednesday on the property at 610 Lexington Avenue, next to the Seagram Building, the companies said in a statement. The planned 61-storey skyscraper is Vanke's second project in the US after it joined Tishman Speyer Properties last year to develop the dual-tower Lumina condo complex in San Francisco. "It truly reflects Vanke's globalisation objective of forging strategic partnerships with world-class developers and learning through close collaboration," said Yu Liang, president of Shenzhen-based Vanke. The Lexington Avenue project "will undoubtedly transform the New York City skyline and redefine modern urban living". Developers from mainland China are committing billions of dollars to projects around the world amid regulatory restrictions at home and concerns that the Chinese property market is overheating. US cities and parts of Europe and Australia are appealing to developers for their stability, predictable population growth, and their popularity among wealthy Chinese. The six biggest US metropolitan areas attracted almost US$3 billion in commercial property investment by Chinese companies last year, up from US$335.3 million in 2012, according to research firm Real Capital Analytics. New York was the most popular city, with Los Angeles third. The median sale price of Manhattan condos hit a record US$1.32 million in the fourth quarter, a report by appraiser Miller Samuel and brokerage Douglas Elliman Real Estate said.
