A Chinese company listed on the New York Stock Exchange is beginning to develop residential property in the U.S., hoping to tap into the hot demand among Chinese investors for U.S. apartments.

Xinyuan Real Estate Co. purchased a site last month in Williamsburg, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, for its first development in the U.S., a 216-unit condominium building. The company also is scouting for other U.S. projects, planning to sell about 40% of the units it builds to Chinese investors.

Chinese developers of apartment buildings have an edge over U.S. developers when it comes to reaching potential buyers in China, says Omer Ozden, an adviser to Xinyuan and other Chinese investors in the market for U.S. real estate. “If right out of the gate you can get 40% the building sold to mainland Chinese, it’s going to be a successful project.”

Read more at the Wall Street Journal.