Magnum shrinks East Village presence with $29M sale

Sunny Yung acquires East Luxe rental building at 31 Second Avenue

31 Second Avenue in the East Village (inset: Ben Shaoul)
31 Second Avenue in the East Village (inset: Ben Shaoul)

Ben Shaoul’s Magnum Real Estate sold its East Luxe rental building, at 31 Second Avenue in the East Village, for $29 million to real estate investor Sunny Yung, according to property records filed with the city Wednesday.

Shaoul bought the property for $5.6 million in 2011 and developed the six-story, 20-unit residential building, which houses Petco spinoff store Unleashed in its 3,500-square-foot ground-floor retail space.

Yung acquired the building through his Central Management Corp., according to the filing. He owns several other properties throughout the city, including a 76,000-square-foot mixed-use building at West 47th Street in Midtown, which he purchased for $85 million in 2008.

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Neither Magnum nor Central Management could be reached for comment.

Shaoul’s Bloom 62 rental building in the East Village recently closed its rooftop amenity space to residents, claiming “excessive” partying on the roof had “destroyed” the space. Shaoul, the owner of air rights above Katz’s Delicatessen, bought an assemblage of buildings around the iconic deli for $75 million earlier this year. Plans are in the works to construct an 83-unit, mixed-use building at 196 Orchard Street.