In partnership with private investment firm 40 North Properties, Benjamin Shaoul’s residential development firm Magnum Real Estate Group is developing a new 146,000-square-foot dormitory building for the School of Visual Arts in Kips Bay, Shaoul told The Real Deal exclusively.
The 14-story building, slated for 407 First Avenue at 24th Street, will serve as the flagship residence hall for the art school. The building’s L-shape will make another part of the building six stories tall. It will house 505 residents in 242 suites and also feature retail and offices, he said.
Shaoul has hired Midtown West-based firm Ismael Leyva Architects to design. Construction is expected to start early next year and wrap up in summer 2016 in time for a fall semester opening that year.
Magnum and 40 North, led by Howard Glatzer, jointly acquired the site in April for $32.25 million from the nonprofit International Center for the Disabled, property records show. Jones Lang LaSalle brokers Glenn Tolchin, Jon Caplan and Yoav Oelsner marketed the site when it hit the market in July 2012, as The Real Deal reported.
The New York City Department of Buildings has approved the plans for the project, the address of which is also 344-346 East 24th Street, Shaoul said. Neither address could be located in the DOB database.
“We have several other [student housing] projects in the works,” Shaoul said.
The school’s other residence halls are located at 215 East 23rd Street, 23 Lexington Avenue, 17 Gramercy Park South, 101 10th Street and 101 Ludlow Street. The latter residential building is the newest one on campus, having opened its doors in 2009. It sleeps 350 students and features 259 single and 47 double rooms, according to the school’s website.
The School of Visual Arts could not be immediately reached for comment.
In September, Magnum bought the top 21 floors of Verizon’s 140 West Street headquarters, with plans to convert it to residential condominiums, as previously reported.
Other developers are breaking into the student housing market as well. Gregg Singer, for example, plans to convert 605 East 9th Street into a college dormitory, as previously reported.