Savanna reveals plans for boutique luxury office building on Billionaires’ Row

UPDATED, 12:43 p.m., Feb. 16: Savanna won’t be building New York’s next Billionaires’ Row supertall on the edge of Central Park. The firm instead plans to construct a 26-story, 90,000-square-foot boutique office tower at 106 West 56th Street.

The firm will develop the building with Atom Assets, based in Hong Kong, and will gear the office space toward wealthy tenants.

Andrew Kurd, a vice president at Savanna, wouldn’t disclose the asking rent, but it will likely be well over $100 per square foot, a premium for office space. 

“We’re appealing to tenants like high-net-worth individuals, small private-equity firms and family wealth-management offices that want to have new space and proximity to the Upper West Side and Central Park,” Kurd told Crain’s.

For developers, the major appeal for boutique office buildings is three-fold: Building costs are typically under $100 million, demand exceeds supply in Midtown, and rents typically sit above $100 per square foot.

Savanna filed plans to demolish the current nine-story building last month. Chris Schlank’s firm said it bought the building for an undisclosed price from American Media, a Jesuit publishing group.

Architecture firm Perkins Eastman has been tapped to design the project, which will feature Central Park views for floors above the 15th floor. It’s slated for completion in 2019.

United Overseas Bank financed the acquisition and JLL arranged the financing. CBRE‘s Daniel Kaplan, Tim Sheehan, Stuart Eisenkraft and Ned Midgley represented American Media.

Savanna’s active projects include a Morris Adjmi-designed commercial building at 540 West 26th Street and a mixed-use tower at 141 Willoughby Street in Brooklyn.

Other boutique office projects in Manhattan include Aurora Capital and Vornado Realty Trust’s nine-story building at 61 Ninth Avenue, and Eliot Spitzer’s development at Hudson Yards. [Crain’s] — Dusica Sue Malesevic