Savanna signs deal to sell Penn Station site for $65M

Real estate private equity company Savanna Partners has inked a deal to sell a corner development site at 415 Eighth Avenue for $65 million, The Real Deal has learned.

Savanna brought the site to market in December, tapping Bob Knakal of investment sales brokerage Massey Knakal Realty Services to market the property. The deal, which is in contract, has not yet closed.

The site, at the corner of 31st Street, has a total buildable square footage of 87,644. But it could be combined with adjacent sites to form a larger lot which would support a retail and residential development of well over 200,000 square feet, it was previously reported.

The new owner may also be able to acquire some of the 1.5 million square feet of transferable development rights available from the Port Authority’s Moynihan Station redevelopment.

Bob Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal, and a representative for Savanna declined to confirm the deal. The identity of the buyer was not clear.

Central Parking has a lease on the site, which is currently used as a parking facility. That lease has a 60-day termination clause, however, meaning development could start within a few months.

Savanna acquired the site for $27.85 million in 2007, records show. The company had plans to build a 15-story, 88-unit residential tower there, according to documents filed with the Department of Buildings in 2008.

Those plans apparently were abandoned when the recession hit.