Hunton & Williams Represents Savanna in 415 Eighth Avenue Transaction

From: SAVANNA

10 East 53rd Street, 37th Floor

New York, New York 10022

NEW YORK – March 24, 2014 – Savanna, a New York-based real estate private equity and asset management firm, announced today that it has closed on the sale of 415 Eighth Avenue, a development site uniquely located across from Penn Station, the newly renovated Madison Square Garden, and the Farley Post Office/future Moynihan Station. Bob Knakal of Massey Knakal was the sole broker in the transaction.

“Given the property’s location in the heart of a tremendous amount of new development including The High Line, Javits Center, and the planned Moynihan Station expansion, 415 Eighth Avenue is one of the best development opportunities available in Manhattan,” said Cooper Kramer, Vice President at Savanna. “Savanna sees significant value in the Penn Plaza area of Manhattan and believes the purchaser has acquired a terrific site.”

Since purchasing 415 Eighth Avenue in 2007, Savanna analyzed numerous options for development of the site including assemblage with adjacent properties and the potential purchase of air rights from the Port Authority. After evaluating these alternatives and seeing strong value in the current market, Savanna engaged Bob Knakal to market the site for sale. “The land market in the city, and particularly in the Penn Station/ Hudson Yards District, has been in high demand as of late and this sale illustrates this condition. The tremendous interest in the site led to an extraordinary competitive bidding environment,” stated Mr. Knakal.

“This property was particularly attractive to buyers given the strategic location of the site and the potential for development in an area with high foot traffic and visibility,” said Nicholas Bienstock, Managing Partner at Savanna. “We are extremely pleased with the result of the sale, which allows us to achieve a significant return for our investors.”

Attorneys Jay Neveloff and Neil Tucker of Kramer Levin represented the purchaser in negotiating this transaction. Laurie Grasso of Hunton & Williams represented Savanna in negotiating the transaction.

About Savanna

Formed in 1992, Savanna is an institutional real estate private equity firm and asset management company based in New York City and run by Managing Partners Chris Schlank and Nick Bienstock. The firm pursues opportunistic real estate equity and debt asset investments throughout the northeastern United States, focusing on directly owning and operating properties in New York City. The firm’s equity investments target superior risk-adjusted returns by adding value through asset management and/or property development, redevelopment, and repositioning. Savanna also selectively invests in real estate debt instruments that have the potential to generate equity-like returns, including preferred equity instruments, high yield bridge and mezzanine loans, and B-notes. Since inception, Savanna has invested more than $3.2 billion in total capital across 19.2 million square feet of real property.