Savanna, a New York City-based, vertically-integrated real estate investment manager, owner/operator and developer, announced the acquisition of The Falchi Building, a five-story, 711,194-square-foot, mixed-use building in the heart of Long Island City, Queens.
Savanna purchased Falchi, which occupies a full city block bounded by 47th and 48th Avenues, between 31st Street and 31st Place, from Jamestown, L.P. for a reported $225 million.
Long Island City, in recent years, has experienced rapid growth and has also been established as an attractive alternative to other submarkets of Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. Savanna also owns One Court Square – the Citibank Building – a 1.5 million-square-foot office tower in the Court Square submarket of Long Island City. In conjunction with its leasing plan, Savanna will implement a $35 million capital improvement plan at Falchi. The improvements will be focused on building amenities and infrastructure work that will cater to the demand of today’s office tenants, such as upgrading building systems, modernizing elevators, renovating common corridors and bathrooms, as well as developing new ground floor retail.
Mitch Arkin, Joe Grotto, Jr., Haley Fisher, Dan D’Agnes and Kelli Berke of Cushman & Wakefield will work closely with Savanna to lease the property’s office space. David Tricarico, also of Cushman & Wakefield, will head up the retail leasing effort.
“Our acquisition of the Falchi Building demonstrates our continued commitment to Long Island City,” said Andrew Kurd, Director, Savanna. “We are excited to position Falchi to serve the incredibly robust demand for office space in Long Island City and are looking forward to making additional contributions to the area’s creative culture.”
“We’re excited to partner with Savanna, and looking forward to continuing on the execution of a robust leasing campaign for The Falchi Building, which we believe has paved the way for much of the exposure from the brokerage community into the Long Island City market,” said Mr. Arkin, a Cushman & Wakefield Executive Director.
The property, which is currently 90 percent leased, houses tenants such as City of New York, Uber, Lyft, Spaces (Regus), Juice Press and Doughnut Plant. The building is under ten minutes from Midtown Manhattan via the 7, E, F, G, M, N, Q, R trains, the Queens Midtown Tunnel, and the Queensboro Bridge.
Eastdil Secured brokered the sale and arranged acquisition financing. Blackstone Mortgage Trust provided an approximately $200 million loan.
