Leviev, Shaya – Buddies Again

By COLlive and news wires

Even after admitting that real estate investments in the United States were his greatest mistake, Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev is again investing in the U.S.

And he is doing it with his former partner Shaya Boymelgreen.

Accroding to the Las Vegas Sun, the two Lubavitch businessmen have jointly bought land on the Las Vegas Strip, together with a U.S. developer, through a joint venture called Metroflag Management LLC.

Metroflag is a joint venture between: Brett Torino‘s Metroplex LLC; Leviev Boymelgreen LLC; and Flag Luxury Properties, LLC, a New York-based luxury commercial developer.

The company purchased a 2.15-acre (8,000-square meter) on the east side of the Strip for $25 million. Metroflag was deemed the only qualified bidder in a Clark County auction.

Leviev, world’s largest diamond cutter, began doing business in New York after seeing an opportunity to break into the market following Sept. 11.

He formed a partnership with Boymelgreen, a real estate entrepreneur of Crown Heights, after meeting him on a Chabad-sponsored cruise in the Caribbean.

The two developed about 15 projects together, turning office towers into residential properties but parted ways after five years because Leviev wanted to keep pursuing New York projects and Boymelgreen didn’t, Bloomberg reported.

In December 2009, Boymelgreen told Bloomberg.com that if the opportunity came up to work with Leviev again, he would.

“I believe things can turn for him,” Boymelgreen said. “The wheel is always turning and you just have to hold on to the wheel.”