By: citybiz – Savanna, a New York City-based, vertically-integrated real estate investment manager, owner/operator and developer, has signed three new full-floor leases at The Six, the boutique office tower at 106 West 56th Street. Savanna completed the 90,000 square foot, 26-story property catering to New York’s high-end office users, and opened for occupancy this Spring. The Six offers an efficient and modern design, customizable boutique floorplates, contemporary prebuilt spaces, and stunning views of Central Park and other New York landmarks.

CommonWealth Partners, a real estate investment and development firm, leased 3,051 square feet, taking the entire 16th floor. Buckeye Partners, L.P. (NYSE: BPL), a major petroleum distribution company, took the entire 18th floor of 2,682 square feet. TCG Crossover, a healthcare investment firm, leased the entire 19th floor of 2,682 square feet. Previously, CA Ventures, a real estate investor and asset manager headquartered in Chicago, leased the entire 22nd floor (2,483 square feet) for its New York executive offices, and has now taken occupancy. All three tenants leased high-end build to suit offices designed and constructed by Savanna.

The Six caters to smaller users such as investment funds, wealth managers, and family offices. Savanna’s design incorporates column-free floor plates ranging from 4,524 square feet at the base to 2,492 at the top in order to give every occupier a full-floor presence.

“Our approach with The Six was to create a very special office product for a specific kind of tenant, and we believe the result is spectacular. We’re gratified that our target market agrees, as tenants are embracing our offering including the high-end prebuilt program, and we look forward to continuing this momentum in our lease-up,” said Kerry Powers, Director at Savanna.

“Right now, the office market is experiencing a flight to quality with new construction outperforming the rest of the market. The Six is the only Midtown new construction office building built and designed for smaller tenants, allowing users of this size to capitalize on the flight to quality trend. We will continue to build to the highest level of finishes at The Six in order to meet the demand,” added Christie Harle of CBRE’s agency leasing team for the property.

In designing and programming The Six, Savanna focused on providing boutique office space with a hospitality-like feel in this tremendous location just west of Sixth Avenue, two blocks south of Central Park. The Six features a private club-like atmosphere and superior amenities including a private tenant lounge and conference center. The column-free floorplates provide the maximum flexibility in tenant layouts, floor-to-ceiling fenestration to maximize natural light and views, and generous ceiling heights of 13’6”.

Designed by Perkins Eastman, as architect of record, and Gensler, as design architect, the building is constructed as a steel structure enveloped by a sleek glass curtain wall system. Tenants have wrap-around eastern viewing windows starting on the 14th floor, with Central Park views to the northeast starting on the 18th floor. The base floors also feature west-facing windows to allow even more light into the space. In addition, the building’s five setbacks offer usable terraces exclusively for the tenants leasing those floors.

CommonWealth Partners was represented in lease negotiations by CBRE’s Evan Haskell, Brett Shannon, and Howard Fiddle. Mark Mandell and Carri Lyons of Cushman & Wakefield represented Buckeye. Jon Franzel and Leo Kone of Newmark represented TCG. The Six was represented by exclusive leasing agent CBRE, with the team of Peter Turchin, Caroline Merck, Christie Harle and Brad Auerbach.

About Savanna
Savanna, formed in 1992, is a vertically-integrated real estate investment manager based in New York City and focused on strategic property investments throughout the City’s five boroughs. The firm pursues real estate equity and debt investments, including ground-up development and major repositioning projects. Savanna’s equity investments target value add/opportunistic returns by adding value through asset management and/or property development, redevelopment, and repositioning, deploying a team of more than 50 experienced investment, asset management, construction, and leasing professionals. Savanna also selectively invests in real estate debt instruments that have the potential to generate equity-like returns, including preferred equity instruments, high yield bridge and mezzanine loans, and B-notes. Since 2006, Savanna has invested over $5 billion in total capital across approximately 17 million square feet of real property.