After pulling his East Village rental building off the market, developer Ben Shaoul is converting Bloom 62 into condominium units, The Real Deal has learned.
Shaoul, president of Magnum Real Estate Group, filed plans for an 81-unit condominium that will have a total sellout of $95.2 million, according to a summary of the offering plan filed with the state Attorney General’s office and reviewed by TRD.
Magnum shopped the building, located at 62 Avenue B, for several months before yanking it off the market this summer. The developer initially sought $73 million in November 2014 and then $80 million in March of this year. After taking the building off the market, Shaoul secured $63 million in recapitalization funding – a $44 million loan from Santander Bank and $19 million in mezzanine financing from TPG Real Estate Finance Trust.
Shaoul bought the property, the former home of the Cabrini Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation, for $25 million in 2011. Two years later, he converted the building into a six-story rental property with 81 units.
This summer, Shaoul was forced to close the rooftop space as a result of “excessive parties.” Rentals at Bloom 62 currently range from one-bedroom units asking $3,300 a month to a four-bedroom listed for $7,395 a month, according to StreetEasy.
Shaoul did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. But Magnum is one of the most prolific condo developers in Manhattan, having filed plans for close to 600 condo units since 2012, according to a recent TRD analysis.
Magnum sold its East Luxe rental building at 31 Second Avenue for $29 million earlier this year, and the developer is getting ready to launch sales at its condo development at 100 Avenue A. Nest Seekers International’s Ryan Serhant is marketing the property, where one-bedroom units start at just under $1.3 million.