China’s Biggest Construction Firm to Acquire New Jersey Site for $68 Mil

China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the biggest builder in China and the third largest in the world has joined the rush of Chinese companies buying US real estate, and is apparently buying a $68 million site in New Jersey.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, China Construction America Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of CSCEC, has a tentative agreement to acquire the site overlooking the Hudson River, which is approved for construction of up to 1000 apartments.

The seller of the property, known as 99 Hudson Street, is Hartz Mountain Industries Inc., a successful regional developer that purchased it in 2011 for $35 million.

The acquisition by CSCEC is part of a wave of overseas investment by Chinese companies, and US assets have become particularly popular in recent months.

Just last week, Shanghai-based Greenland Group announced its acquisition of a 70% stake in the $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. During July, Greenland also acquired a prime office site in Los Angeles, and reported that it planned to invest US$1 billion in the project.

During March of this year, real estate mogul Zhang Xin of SOHO China was part of a US$2.8 billion acquisition of a 40% stake in the GM Building in New York, and Dalian Wanda Chairman Wang Jianlin announced a US$1 billion investment in a New York hotel project during June.

CSCEC has been active in the US construction market for years, and already has an office in Jersey City, but this project would be its first foray into property development in the United States.