Savanna Buys NoMad Building for $126M, Fifth Time Property Changes Hands Since 2006
By Liam La Guerre July 14, 2017 10:57 am
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Real estate investment manager and developer Savanna has closed on the purchase of a 12-story office building at 31 West 27th Street from Westbrook Partners. It’s the fifth time the property has sold in less than a dozen years.
The 144,500-square-foot building sold for $126 million, a source with knowledge of the deal told Commercial Observer.
Savanna was attracted to the building between Broadway and Avenue of the Americas because of its “rare combination of attributes,” according to Savanna Managing Director Cooper Kramer, who was referring to the building’s historic architecture and location in NoMad.
“Our aim is to implement strategic renovations that will make this property an even more compelling proposition for office tenants seeking the best of New York, as well as a prime retail destination within a dynamic area that continues to transform,” Kramer said in prepared remarks.
Savanna plans to renovate the lobby, building systems, façade and roof among other parts of the building. It will also update the retail storefront. The spokesman declined to disclose the cost of the upgrades.
The property at West 27th Street has been a hot commodity over the past decade. In June 2006, Witkoff Group acquired the building for $31.5 million, according to city records. Then in October 2009, SoHo Properties purchased it for $45.7 million, as CO reported at the time. Three years later, Walnut Hill Group picked up the property for $65 million and then two years later (in 2014) sold it to Westbrook Partners for $80.8 million.
The Real Deal reported in May that Savanna went into contract for the Beaux-Arts building.
The developer did the deal directly with Westbrook Partners, which was represented by Hodges Ward Elliott’s Will Silverman, Paul Gillen and Daniel Parker. The brokers did not immediately return a request for comment via a spokesman.
A separate Hodges Ward Elliott team of Lawrence Britvan, Matt Jacobs and Michael Straw arranged financing for Savanna from lender Aareal Capital Corporation, a subsidiary of Germany-based Aareal Bank AG. Spokesmen for the bank did not immediately respond to an inquiry seeking comment.
The office building is nearly fully leased save for the 11,578-square-foot 10th floor, according to CoStar (CSGP) Group. Savanna has tapped a CBRE (CBRE) team of Paul Amrich, Neil King, Patrice Meagher to lease the availabilities.
Stonehill & Taylor Architects, film studio A24 and The Stella Adler Studio of Acting are current tenants.
