East Village gas stations have gone the way of the dinosaur, or at least the way of demolition for future real estate development. A BP station and an auto repair shop located at 24 Second Avenue — referred to in previous reports as the neighborhood’s last holdout — traded hands for $32 million, according to city records filed yesterday.
Both the BP station and the shop, MRM Auto Repair, are now closed, according to an insider with knowledge of the transaction.
It’s not immediately clear what’s in store for the site. Rumors circulated online in May that the lot would give way to a boutique hotel. The city Department of Buildings website does not list any proposals for demolition or new development at this parcel, located at East 1st Street.
The seller of the lot is listed in public records as 24 Second Ave. Corp., whose phone number was disconnected. The buyer took out a $39.5 million mortgage on the property, according to records, and is listed under an LLC. Yan Ouaknine, who appears to be the co-founder of development firm AORE Holdings LLC, is listed as the borrower in the mortgage. Several calls to AORE were not immediately returned.
The East Village has — or at least had — three gas stations, according to a map published in May by WNYC. One is a BP outlet located at 300 Lafayette Street, which will give way to a $200 million office and retail development. The other, a Mobil station at 11 Avenue C, is slated to be turned into a 41,421-square-foot mixed-use property, according to DOB records.
