KBS, Savanna Buy 110 William St. in Manhattan for $261M

By Gail Kalinoski, Contributing Editor

Savanna and KBS Capital Advisors will make “comprehensive capital improvements” to 110 William St., the 32-story, 928,000-square-foot office building they have acquired from Swig Equities and the Dubai Investment Group for $261.1 million.

“Our acquisition of 110 will accelerate the positive transformation of William Street that is occurring as institutional firms continue to buy and upgrade many of the adjacent properties,” Nicholas Bienstock, managing partner at New York-based Savanna, said in a news release. “By investing in and improving the building, we expect to attract the same diverse group of tenants that we have been able to attract to our other Downtown properties.”

The joint venture partners plan to modernize the lobby and entrance, renovate the roof and façade, and upgrade bathrooms and corridors of the building originally constructed in 1918 and modernized in 1959.

Swig, which bought the property at William and John streets in 2004, had also given the building an upgrade when it acquired it from Trizec Properties. The building has several retail tenants and as well government, professional and financial services tenants. In August 2012, Swig and Silverpeak Real Estate Partners, which manages Dubai Investment Group’s portfolio, refinanced the property for $161.5 million. The main loan was a $141.5 million first mortgage from UBS Real Estate Services and Barclay Capital. Pearlmark Real Estate Partners L.L.C. provided a $20 million mezzanine loan.

The new owners tout the building’s location near mass transportation, noting it has direct entry from the lobby to the subway and the future Fulton Center, a new transit hub expected to be completed in June. The property is also near the World Trade Center Transportation Hub that is scheduled for completion in 2015. It will connect riders to 11 subway lines and the PATH rail system.

“It’s an exciting time to be investing in Downtown Manhattan as the long transformation has arrived, with over $30 billion in capital invested in Downtown from both the public and private sector over the last 10 years,” Adam Spies of Eastdil Secured, one of the exclusive advisors for the transaction, said in the release. “As Downtown has become the epicenter of the region’s vast pool of high-value, knowledge workers, the demand for office space continues to increase, evidenced by 22 percent year-over-year increase in rental rates as of first quarter 2014.”

Douglas Harmon of Eastdil Secured was also an exclusive advisor. Laurie Grasso and Susan Saslow of Hunton & Williams represented Savanna, a real estate private equity and asset management firm, in the acquisition. Their colleague Carl Schwartz of Hunton & Williams represented Savanna in the joint venture with KBS.

Morrison & Foerster represented Swig Equities and Dubai Investment Group in the transaction. Mark Edelstein, chair of Morrison & Foerster’s New York real estate finance group, led the team that included partner Jeffrey Temple and associate Elisa Vega.

Swig Equities will continue to provide property management services for the building. The Newmark Grubb Knight Frank team of Hal Stein, Andrew Peretz, Adam Leshowitz and Todd Stracci will handle leasing.