NYC developer Ben Shaoul eyes 376-unit resi complex near L.A.’s Chinatown

Proposal enlarges previous vision for site next to Cornfields state park

Ben Shaoul and 1457 North Main Street (Getty, LoopNet)
Ben Shaoul and 1457 North Main Street (Getty, LoopNet)

A high-profile New York landlord has bigger plans for a multifamily project near Downtown Los Angeles.

Ben Shaoul is looking to build a 194,581-square-foot, 376-unit apartment complex at 1457 North Main Street, according to documents filed with the Department of City Planning. The proposed structure, with the alternate address of 114-116 West Sotello Street, would replace a two-story food processing facility.

The new plans represent an enlargement of a prior proposal for the site, which sits amid an industrial patch that borders the state park known as the Cornfields, between Chinatown and the Lincoln Heights district northeast of L.A.’s city center. The previous owner, Universal Standard Housing — now known as Housing for Human Progress — proposed a 119,323-square-foot modular building with 244 live/work units, city records show.

The new proposal for the property, which sits on a 56,454-square-foot lot, calls for a six-story building with 6,448 square feet of commercial space. The residential portion of the property would be 149,776 square feet, divided between 300 market-rate units and 76 affordable units, with 16 for extremely low income tenants.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

Magnum Real Estate Group, Shaoul’s firm, bought the Main Street property for nearly $13 million in December, according to property records.

Magnum Real Estate Group focuses on condo conversions, new construction residential condos and multifamily rentals. The firm’s portfolio is valued at $4 billion, according to its website. It was recently in the news for seeking Bitcoin as payment for three three retail condominiums it put on the market in Manhattan’s Gramercy Park for $29 million.

The firm’s other projects include One Hundred Barclay in Tribeca and 196 Orchard Street on the Lower East Side.