Ben Shaoul

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

Ben Shaoul
Born	(1977-03-07) March 7, 1977 (age 47)
Nationality	American
Occupation	real estate developer
Known for	co-founder of Magnum Real Estate Group
Spouse	Megan Walsh
Children	four
Parent(s)	Minoo Shaoul Abraham Shaoul

Early life

Shaoul was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City to an Iranian Jewish family,^[1] the son of Abraham and Minoo Shaoul.^[5] 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.^[6] In 1999, Shaoul used the proceeds from that mortgage to buy his first property, which was located on Mott Street in Nolita.^[1][7] 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.^[4][8] Shaoul and Westbrook Partners sold a jointly-held investment portfolio of 17 properties for $130 million to Jared Kushner in February of that year.^[9] He later partnered with SL Green Realty to acquire properties in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.^[10] Shaoul also began developing a dormitory for the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan^[8][9][11] and ventured into Tribeca where he purchased the top 22 floors of the 32 story art-deco Verizon Building for conversion to condominiums.^[12][13] 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.^[14]

Shaoul has acquired and sold over 100 properties to include everything from the renovation of thousands of apartments to a $500M condominium conversion.^[15][16]

Personal life

Shaoul is married to Megan Walsh Shaoul.^[2] They have three children: Henry, Piper, and Mayer.^[2] 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 tenants 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.^[5][6] The dispute was later resolved.^[17]

References

1. Rebecca Flint Marx (July 6, 2012). "He Takes the Village". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
2. "Meet the Landlord". The Real Deal. 2013-07-31. from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
3. Josh Barbanel (March 12, 2012). "New Apartments, Plus Bridge". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
4. Konrad Putzier (November 7, 2013). "Hip young crowd planting roots at Bloom62". Real Estate Weekly. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
5. Amato, Rowley (2014-02-16). "Developer Ben Shaoul Sued by Own Parents for $50 Million". Curbed NY. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
6. Clarke, Katherine (2014-02-14). "Ben Shaoul's parents sue developer for fraud, theft". The Real Deal. from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
7. Max Abelson (5 February 2008). "Boy Developer Ben Shaoul Wants to Live Forever". New York Observer. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
8. Ivanova, Irina (2013-06-05). "Lower East Side nursing home reborn as lux apts". Crain's New York Business. from the original on 2022-01-28. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
9. Guelda Voien (February 1, 2013). "Kushner buys $130M portfolio of EV rental buildings". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
10. Adam Pincus (6 May 2013). "SL Green, Magnum pay $52M for newly constructed Williamsburg residential portfolio". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
11. C.J. Hughes (31 December 2013). "Where 600 College Students Live Above the Store". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
12. Budin, Jeremiah (2014-04-11). "Details Revealed for Ben Shaoul's Verizon Tower Conversion". Curbed NY. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
13. Barbanel, Josh (2013-12-05). "Old Phone Buildings Are Being Converted into Condos". The Wall Street Journal. from the original on 2015-07-12. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
14. Meir, Noam (2014-07-06). "Ben Shaoul Scoops Up Two NY Residential Towers for $270 Million". Jewish Business News. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
15. C.J. Hughes (4 July 2014). "Buildings With a Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
16. Mark Maurer (31 December 2013). "Ben Shaoul developing School of Visual Arts dorm". The Real Deal. Retrieved 12 July 2014.
17. Strickland, Julie (2014-05-23). "Ben Shaoul: My parents' $50M lawsuit against me resolved". The Real Deal. from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 2021-07-29.