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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