Alexandra Farcas 
JLL Capital Markets secured a $463 million loan on behalf of Savanna, for the acquisition of New York’s iconic 5 Bryant Park. Savanna, a New York real estate investment management firm, bought the Midtown Manhattan office tower from the Blackstone Group for $640 million. JLL also represented Blackstone in the sale of the tower.
The Class A, 34-story office building, located on Sixth Avenue between West 40th and West 41st streets, has been on the market since 2016. Built in 1958, it boasts 682,000 square feet of space, 97% of it currently on lease. According to The Real Deal, 5 Bryant Park was the last of Blackstone’s Bryant Park portfolio, as the private equity firm sold 3 Bryant Park for a whopping $2.2 billion in 2015.
The JLL team that arranged the financing was led by Managing Director Kellogg Gaines and Executive Vice President Aaron Niedermayer. Executive Managing Director Peter Nicoletti and Managing Director Anthony Ledesma led the team handling the sale of the property.
“With in-place rents well below market, Savanna is poised to create significant value at 5 Bryant Park by rolling expiring leases to market. Ultimately, we secured a loan that enables Savanna to unlock the full value of the asset through extremely aggressive pricing, term, structure and prepayment flexibility,” Niedermayer said about the transaction.
