Ben Shaoul

Ben Shaoul
Born March 15, 1977
Residence New York City
Nationality United States
Ethnicity Persian Jewish
Occupation real estate developer
Known for co-founder of Magnum Real Estate Group
Religion Sephardi Judaism
Spouse(s) Megan Walsh
Children three
Parent(s) Minoo Shaoul
Abraham Shaoul

Ben Shaoul is a New York City-based real estate owner and developer.[1][2][3][4] He is the president of Magnum Real Estate Group, a residential real estate development and management company headquartered in New York City.[2][5] Shaoul is best known as a prominent developer in the Manhattan borough of New York City.[1][2]

Early life

Shaoul was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City to a Iranian Jewish family,[1] the son of Abraham and Minoo Shaoul.[6] His father ran an antiques business.[1] He grew up in Great Neck, New York.[1][2] He briefly attended community college but dropped out at the age of 19.[1]

Career

After he left school, he interned for a summer with a New York-based developer run by the Ohebshalom family, (also of Persian Jewish heritage).[1][2] He oversaw the renovation of his father's property and later took out a mortgage on the building.[1][2] In 1998, he and his parents co-founded Magnum Real Estate Group.[7] In 1999, Shaoul used the proceeds from that mortgage to buy his first property, which was located on Mott Street in Nolita.[1][8] Shaoul purchases buildings that have not been renovated for a long time and renovates them, and then increases the rent.[1] He primarily focuses on the East Village has added luxury apartments on top existing buildings.[1]

In 2013, Shaoul and Magnum Real Estate Group opened Bloom62, a luxury apartment building located in the East Village.[5][9] Shaoul and Westbrook Partners sold a jointly-held investment portfolio of 17 properties for $130 million to Jared Kushner in February of that year.[10] He later partnered with SL Green Realty to acquire properties in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[11] Shaoul also began developing a dormitory for the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan[9][10][12] and ventured into Tribeca where he purchased the top 22 floors of the 32 story art-deco Verizon Building for conversion to condominiums.[13][14] In July 2014, he purchased the 199-unit Post Toscana on the Upper East Side and the 138-unit Post Luminaria in Kips Bay for $270 million to convert into condominiums. Both buildings have soon-to-expire tax abatements thereafter exempting them from rent stabilization rules.[15][16]

Shaoul has acquired and sold over 100 properties to include everything from the renovation of thousands of apartments to a $500M condominium conversion.[17][18] As of 2014, Shaoul owns over forty buildings in the East Village.[1]

Personal life

Shaoul is married to Megan Walsh Shaoul.[2] They have three children: Henry, Piper, and Mayer.[19] He has been criticized for contributing to the decline of rent-regulated apartments in the East Village.[1] He was labeled "Sledgehammer Shaoul" after confronting some squatters in a building he purchased and being photographed with construction workers holding sledgehammers and crowbars.[1] In 2014, he was sued by his parents for using the proceeds from the refinancing of co-owned assets to fund his development projects.[6][7] The dispute was later resolved.[20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rebecca Flint Marx (July 6, 2012). "He Takes the Village". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Meet the Landlord". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  3. ↑ Annie Karni. "Ben Shaoul, 30, Magnum Real Estate Group". Page Six Magazine. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  4. ↑ Josh Barbanel (March 12, 2012). "New Apartments, Plus Bridge". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  5. 1 2 Konrad Putzier (November 7, 2013). "Hip young crowd planting roots at Bloom62". Real Estate Weekly. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  6. 1 2 Curbed New York: "Developer Ben Shaoul Sued by Own Parents for $50 Million" by Rowley Amato February 16, 2014
  7. 1 2 Curbed New York: "Ben Shaoul’s parents sue developer for fraud, theft" By Katherine Clarke February 14, 2014
  8. ↑ Max Abelson (5 February 2008). "Boy Developer Ben Shaoul Wants to Live Forever". New York Observer. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  9. 1 2 Irina Ivanova. "Lower East Side nursing home reborn as lux apts.". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  10. 1 2 Guelda Voien (February 1, 2013). "Kushner buys $130M portfolio of EV rental buildings". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  11. ↑ Adam Pincus (6 May 2013). "SL Green, Magnum pay $52M for newly constructed Williamsburg residential portfolio". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  12. ↑ C.J. Hughes (31 December 2013). "Where 600 College Students Live Above the Store". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  13. ↑ Curbed New York: "Details Revealed for Ben Shaoul's Verizon Tower Conversion" by Jeremiah Budin April 11, 2014
  14. ↑ Josh Barbanel. "Old Phone Buildings Are Being Converted into Condos". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  15. ↑ New York Post: "Condo developer Ben Shaoul snaps up 2 rental towers" by Lois Weiss July 4, 2014
  16. ↑ Jewish Business News: "Ben Shaoul Scoops Up Two NY Residential Towers for $270 Million" by Noam Meir July 6, 2014
  17. ↑ C.J. Hughes (4 July 2014). "Buildings With a Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  18. ↑ Mark Maurer (31 December 2013). "Ben Shaoul developing School of Visual Arts dorm". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
  19. ↑ Meet the Landlord: "Ben Shaoul" retrieved July 13, 2014
  20. ↑ The Real Deal: "Ben Shaoul: My parents’ $50M lawsuit against me resolved - Attorney disputes claim, says no binding agreement has been reached" By Julie Strickland" May 23, 2014
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