RM Capital has arranged $115 million of first mortgage construction financing for the development of a Class A office and gallery building located at 540-544 West 26th Street in West Chelsea.
The project is a joint venture between Savanna Real Estate Fund and the Silvermintz Family, a multi-generational owner of the land. The 166,525 s/f office building is 51 percent pre-leased to Avenues: The World School, a premier global independent educational institution.
“We are pleased to welcome Avenues to 540 West 26th Street,” said Christopher Schlank, Managing Partner at Savanna. “Avenues is a world-class academic institution with an outstanding reputation which has become a valued partner serving the Chelsea community.”
The remainder of the property will essentially be a building within a building with dedicated elevators, entrances and rooftop amenities for office tenants while the ground floor gallery tenants will have 20 foot ceiling heights with floor to ceiling storefronts and thoughtfully designed layouts.
Savanna and the Silvermintz Family will work with the leasing team of David Falk, Peter Shimkin, Daniel Levine and Nick Berger of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank to lease the office space. Jamison Weiner of Manhattes Group will head leasing efforts for the gallery.
The steel and glass, jewel box building was designed by Morris Adjmi Architects on behalf of Savanna. Construction is anticipated to be complete in 2017.
Co-Managing Directors of RM Capital, Romano Tio and Marc Sznajderman, and Director Steven Weiss secured the finance from Deutsche Bank on behalf of the JV partnership by delivering multiple competitive bids which allowed the borrower to achieve its main objective of securing full, non-recourse construction financing for the project.
“The property is ideally located in the heart of West Chelsea and has positioned itself to be one of the most sought after boutique Class A office and gallery developments in Midtown South, which continues to be the best performing office submarket in the country,” RM Capital’s Co-Managing Director Romano Tio stated.
Savanna recently demolished the existing structure on the site and will begin excavation this month. The building is expected to be ready for occupancy in the Fall of 2017.
RM Capital is a private real estate investment banking and merchant banking firm based in New York.
