ADDING MULTIMEDIA Saber-Hightower, Rafferty Real Estate, and Eagle Realty Group Break Ground on The Ibex at Ridge Hill, a $140 Million Residential Tower in Yonkers

YONKERS, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 6, 2026--

A joint venture of Saber-Hightower, Rafferty Real Estate, and Eagle Realty Group, a subsidiary of Western & Southern Financial Group, has begun construction of The Ibex at Ridge Hill, a 17-story, 282-unit rental building at Ridge Hill, the open-air lifestyle center in Yonkers. Bank OZK is providing construction financing for the $140 million project. The building will include 28 affordable units. First units are expected to be available in late 2028.

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The building, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, will be located directly adjacent to the Whole Foods Market on Ridge Hill’s Main Street. The project will also include 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and 423 resident parking spaces within Ridge Hill’s existing garage.

“We are excited to become an important part of this world-class mixed-use center,” said Greg Belew, Managing Principal of Saber-Hightower. “Our residents will have the ability to walk out the door and enjoy a wide variety of dining, shopping, and entertainment options.”

The building will feature 360-degree views of the Hudson River, the New York City skyline and northern Westchester, along with 20,000 square feet of amenities, including a resort-style courtyard swimming pool and lounge on the ground floor and a sky lounge on the 17th floor with indoor and outdoor entertainment areas. Other amenities include a fitness center, yoga studio, a dog park, a golf simulator/game room, a demonstration kitchen, co-working space, and a private dining room.

Saber-Hightower, led by Marty Berger and Greg Belew, formed the partnership with Rafferty Real Estate and Eagle Realty Group to undertake this development. The start of construction caps a 12-year effort by Belew to bring luxury rental housing to Ridge Hill. “I worked with two prior owners of Ridge Hill to make this happen and finally found success working with Jamestown and its partners in the Ridge Hill ownership group,” said Belew. “They have a great vision for the future of the center and have been amazing partners throughout the predevelopment process.” The project was supported by the City of Yonkers, the Yonkers City Council, and the Yonkers Industrial Development Agency.

“We are proud to partner with Saber-Hightower on this project. This development team has been responsible for some of the most iconic buildings in the Westchester and Fairfield County markets, and we have no doubt that The Ibex will be a leader in the luxury market with a great location in one of the best walkable retail lifestyle centers in the region,” said Mike Daly, Managing Director, at Rafferty Real Estate.

About Saber-Hightower LLC

Saber-Hightower LLC is a real estate development and investment firm focused on multifamily and select commercial opportunities in the eastern United States. Based in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., the firm is led by Marty Berger and Greg Belew, each with more than 30 years of experience in multifamily and commercial real estate. The principals have completed nearly $3 billion in development, including The Mitchell in White Plains and The Smyth in Stamford. The firm also recently began construction on the M7 Lofts in Norwalk, Connecticut.

For more information, visit www.saberht.com

About Rafferty Real Estate LLC

Rafferty Real Estate pursues value-add and opportunistic multifamily investments, pairing development and operational expertise with a flexible capital structure. Based in New York City, it is part of Rafferty Holdings, which has founded, scaled and operated businesses across financial services, asset management, technology, and real estate since 1987, investing its own capital on a long-term horizon.

About Eagle Realty Group

Eagle Realty Group, a member of Western & Southern Financial Group, is a real estate capital provider and asset management company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Eagle oversees a diverse real estate debt and equity portfolio on behalf of the member companies of Western & Southern. The company’s financial products include equity joint ventures and mortgage loans for institutional-quality assets ranging from $5 million to $75 million. Property types vary by portfolio and include multifamily, senior housing, hospitality, office, medical office, retail, warehouse, and industrial. As of June 30, 2026, Eagle Realty Group oversees portfolios consisting of over 100 equity investments and 355 mortgage loans, encompassing various types of real estate investments throughout the United States, and total assets under management valued in excess of $11.4 billion.

About Bank OZK

Bank OZK (Nasdaq: OZK), through its Real Estate Specialties Group (RESG), provides financing on commercial real estate projects throughout the nation. RESG is considered a preeminent, market-leading construction lender focused on senior secured financing for a variety of property types including mixed use, multifamily housing, condominiums, office, hospitality, life sciences, industrial, cold storage, self-storage and retail. For the five years ended June 30, 2026, RESG originated approximately $38.75 billion in new loans. For more information, visit ozk.com.

Rendering of The Ibex at Ridge Hill in Yonkers, N.Y.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A California couple has been arrested on child abuse charges following an investigation into a surrogacy scheme involving at least 21 children, authorities said Tuesday.

Silvia Zhang and her husband, Guojun Xuan face several counts of child abuse and conspiracy to commit child abuse, accessory after the fact, and dissuading a witness, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.

“This case is unprecedented. It is horrific. And the physical abuse, beating and punishment that these very young children received, is despicable,” Hochman said during a news conference Tuesday morning.

Prosecutors are seeking a $100 million bail for the couple because of the serious nature of the charges and due to their flight risk potential, Hochman said.

Fifteen children were removed from the couple’s opulent home in Arcadia last year after an allegation of abuse, and another six living elsewhere were also located. They ranged in age from 2 months to 13 years, with most between 1 and 3. Police believe Zhang gave birth to one or two of the children while the rest were born by surrogate.

Hochman said the couple set up a surrogacy agency that they operated from their home and used that agency to hire surrogates throughout U.S.

“The house could only be described as a house of horrors for these incredible young children,” Hochman said.

Zhang and Xuan were first arrested in May 2025 after a hospital reported that their 2-month-old infant had a traumatic head injury, the result of a nanny at the home violently shaking the baby, according to Arcadia police.

Arcadia police did not file charges at the time, in order to finish a full investigation, they said.

Hochman said the couple set up three rooms they called learning centers, where the children spent several hours a day sitting at desks under the supervision of nannies.

Through an extensive surveillance system including motion-activated cameras, the couple watched as their nannies subjected the children to daily beatings and physical abuse, he said.

The nannies were told “not to leave any physical marks on the children,” Hochman said.

Before police arrived to investigate in May 2025, Zhang and Xuan told the children to deny they had been beaten.

Police examined surveillance footage that showed the nannies beating the children. They issued an arrest warrant for the nanny seen hurting a 2-month-old infant, Chunmei Li, but she could not be found.

“There will be a reckoning” for the defendants, one of whom faces more than 17 years in prison if convicted, Hochman said.

Surrogacy is an agreement between parties to have a woman become pregnant, typically through an embryo transfer, and deliver a baby for another parent.

The practice has no federal regulation, leaving it up to states to set the rules if they choose to allow it.

California is considered a “surrogacy-friendly state” because it has clear laws governing the process. Both sides are required to have lawyers, and there must be a written, notarized contract before an embryo transfer takes place.

Investigators have said they were looking into whether the couple had misled surrogates around the country. At least eight women had come forward to say they were aggressively pursued by the couple to serve as surrogates.

The women, many of whom were first-time surrogates, say they were given misleading or incomplete information about the couple’s family situation and intentions.

At least one, Kayla Elliott, is now trying to get custody of a baby she birthed for the couple.

Marcelo reported from New York City.

FILE - An aerial view shows the home of Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan on July 16, 2025, in Arcadia, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)