Savanna’s LIC tower signs health care giant

Northwell Health leased 42K sf at One Court Square

Savanna’s One Court Square appears to be the picture of good health almost four years after Amazon placed the property in the emergency room.

Northwell Health signed a 10-year-plus deal for 42,000 square feet at the Long Island City office tower, the Commercial Observer reported. Most of that space will serve as offices occupying the entire third and fourth floors, but the health care giant will also operate a 3,400-square-foot urgent care center on the ground floor.

Northwell’s space encompasses a small percentage of the offices Citigroup once occupied before its 400,000-square-foot lease expired in 2020, prompting the institution to leave the Queens building that bore its logo for all to see on their way from Long Island.

The asking rent on Northwell’s lease was $50 per square foot. The health care company is expected to move in later this year, adding to its Long Island City footprint that already includes a pediatrics center and obstetrics and gynecology units.

A JLL team including Mitchell Konsker and Clark Finney represented Savanna in the lease. Colliers’ Darren Leiderman represented Northwell.

In October, Savanna signed the New York City School Construction Authority on a 20-year, 350,000-square-foot lease at One Court Square. Financial terms of the lease were not disclosed.

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In early 2020, Savanna finalized an $880 million recapitalization of the 1.5 million-square-foot property. Apollo Global Management provided a $580 million senior loan while SL Green provided $100 million in subordinate debt. Junius Real Estate Partners chipped in $200 million and converted its ownership position into a preferred equity stake.

One Court Square was a casualty of Amazon’s messy breakup with its announced plans for a Queens campus in Feb. 2019. The e-commerce behemoth was planning to build a 1 million-square-foot headquarters in Long Island City while renting space from Savanna’s property.

Savanna appeared to have started the healing process by June 2019, when it signed a deal with telecom and cable company Altice USA for 103,000 square feet.

— Holden Walter-Warner