Savanna and KBS Capital Advisors Acquire 110 William Street in Downtown Manhattan’s Financial District

SAVANNA
430 Park Avenue, 12th Floor
New York, New York 10022

RUBENSTEIN PUBLIC RELATIONS
Contact: Alan Segan, Tele: 212-843-8064
Email: asegan@rubensteinpr.com

NEW YORK – May 5, 2014 – Savanna, a New York-based real estate private equity and asset management firm, announced that it has acquired 110 William Street in a joint venture with KBS Capital Advisors. The property is a 32-story, 928,000 square foot office tower located at the corner of William and John Streets in Downtown Manhattan’s Financial District.

Savanna and KBS purchased the building from Swig Equities and the Dubai Investment Group for $261.1 million, or $281 per square foot. Douglas Harmon and Adam Spies of Eastdil Secured were exclusive advisors for the transaction. Savanna was represented by Laurie Grasso and Susan Saslow of Hunton & Williams in the acquisition, and Carl Schwartz of Hunton & Williams in the joint venture with KBS Capital Advisors.

110 William Street is located in the heart of Lower Manhattan, a neighborhood that continues to transform from what was once primarily a business district to what is now a vibrant, live-work-play destination. With major transformational development and transportation projects nearing completion, the Downtown area is increasingly attracting more residents, retailers, and corporations, including many companies in the creative, fashion and media industries. Downtown grows more diverse everyday with major expansion in 2013 of the tech, advertising media and education sectors.

“Our acquisition of 110 will accelerate the positive transformation of William Street that is occurring as institutional firms continue to buy and upgrade many of the adjacent properties,” said Nicholas Bienstock, Managing Partner at Savanna. “By investing in and improving the building, we expect to attract the same diverse group of tenants that we have been able to attract to our other Downtown properties.”

Centrally located, 110 William Street offers unparalleled transportation access, with direct entry from its lobby to the subway and the future Fulton Center, a new major transit hub scheduled for completion in late June 2014. Fulton Center will provide an additional transformational impetus for this area, linking eight subway lines and handling an average of 275,000 passengers per day.

In addition, the World Trade Center Transportation Hub scheduled for completion in 2015 is projected to serve over 200,000 commuters each day. It will connect visitors to 11 subway lines and the PATH rail system. The Hub is designed by internationally acclaimed architect Santiago Calatrava and will rival Grand Central Station in size.

“It's an exciting time to be investing in Downtown Manhattan as the long transformation has arrived, with over $30 billion in capital invested in Downtown from both the public and private sector over the last ten years,” said Adam Spies. “As Downtown has become the epicenter of the region’s vast pool of high-value, knowledge workers, the demand for office space continues to increase, evidenced by 22 percent year over year increase in rental rates as of first quarter 2014.”

Featuring flexible floor plates, water views and an abundance of light and air, 110 William Street is ideal for tenants seeking quality office space in the Downtown area. Savanna plans to undertake a comprehensive capital improvement plan at the building during its hold period which includes modernizing the lobby and entrance, renovating the roof and façade, and upgrading bathrooms and corridors. The Newmark Grubb Knight Frank team of Hal Stein, Andrew Peretz, Adam Leshowitz, and Todd Stracci will lead leasing efforts, while Swig Equities will provide property management services.

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, with a particular focus 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 $2.1 billion in total capital across 19.3 million square feet of real property

Media articles mentioning Hunton lawyers’ role in this deal includes:

Savanna, KBS To Pay $261M For Manhattan Office Tower, Law360 (subscription only)

Savanna Picks Up FiDi Office Building for $261M, The Real Deal

Savanna swoops in to buy Swig tower, Real Estate Weekly

Marketplace, New York Law Journal (subscription only)