ICYMI: 19-23 St. Mark's Place sells

News surfaced last week that there's a new owner of 19-23 St. Mark's Place, the 8-story retail-residential complex between Second Avenue and Third Avenue. 

According to public records and published reports, real-estate investment firm Movcap bought the property for $27.5 million. 

This is the second time the building changed hands in five years: UBS Realty Investors paid $34 million for it in early 2020. 

The retail tenants include restaurants CheLi and Szechuan Mountain House, plus Mango Mango, T-swirl Crêpe, and Teso Life. There are 41 residential units on the upper floors (including at least one really nice one). 

And you can't always see those upper floors that look like they blew in from another building...

Movcap founder Lawrence Movtady told Crain's that he intends to continue operating the property "with some minor renovations and touch-ups." 

And! 

"It's always exciting when there's some history to a property," he said. "It definitely adds a bit of cache and opportunity for branding." 

Yes! History. The address has a long history. As Off the Grid noted: 

The buildings at 19-23 St. Mark’s Place are an excellent example of how the East Village has changed over time from a wealthy merchants neighborhood to a landing spot for immigrants, to the launch pad for numerous counterculture and artistic movements. Where else would one find a building which had been townhouses for wealthy families, a ballroom, a gangster hangout, a Polish wedding chapel, and a performance venue with the Velvet Underground as the house band? 

In the early 2000s, a developer gutted the space and added a new façade, creating mall-friendly retail spaces whose tenants have included a Chipotle and CBGB gift shop. 

Most recently, the long-empty retail space outside No. 23 has been a crashpad for summer travelers...