From left: Charles Cohen, 3 Park Avenue and 137 East 57th Street

Despite the recent departure of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers from 100,000 square feet at 3 Park Avenue, followed by the exit of Guggenheim Partners from 137 East 57th Street, landlord Charles Cohen said he’s not concerned about growing vacancy levels in his Manhattan portfolio, the New York Observer reported.

“I think as owners we have to be independent, you can’t just run and scramble to keep every tenant,” Cohen said of society’s decision to leave. “In that case, I looked at the building and asked myself, am I really best suited incurring the cost of renewing that deal two years early when maybe the market will be a lot better in a year or so?” [more]

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From the January issue: It shouldn’t come as a surprise that eye-catching marble panels line the elevators at 750 Lexington Avenue, the headquarters of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation. After all, the development firm’s best-known buildings are five national design centers, including the Decoration & Design Building (aka the D&D Building) at 979 Third Avenue, where vendors sell fabrics, furniture and stone finishes. The firm built a handful of glitzy office towers in Midtown in the 1970s and 1980s, including the red-granite, full-block 780 Third Avenue (which has since sold). [more]

The computer gaming company Atari that popularized early digital favorites such as Asteroids and Pong signed a new lease at Cohen Brothers Realty’s Murray Hill office tower at 475 Park Avenue South, cutting its space by more than 75 percent.

Atari, founded in 1972, is taking 7,998 square feet on the seventh floor of the 35-story building at the corner of 32nd Street, Henry Goodfriend, executive vice president at commercial firm NAI Global New York City, said. Goodfriend and Trent Dickey, a company associate, represented Atari in the transaction. Marc Horowitz, a vice president at Charles Cohen’s Cohen Brothers, represented the landlord. [more]

From left: Broker Herb Goldberg, landlord Charles Cohen and 333 Westchester Avenue in Westchester

Edward Warren & Co., a brokerage formerly based in Manhattan, triumphed in a recent lawsuit against New York landlord Charles Cohen’s Westchester Building Company, the company that owns buildings managed by his Cohen Brothers Realty, over a $2.1 million commission from 2008′s reported third largest commercial leasing deal in New York State.

Though Westchester Building Company and Cohen Brothers Realty are legally separate entities, they share the same principal employees and offices.

Edward Warren & Co. and Herb Goldberg, a longtime broker who previously worked at Warren, but has since moved to Manhattan-based City Connections, won the case Sept. 25 in Westchester Supreme Court. They were awarded the full commission amount, plus 9 percent interest on the total judgment, amounting to a total of $2.1 million.  [more]

From left: 11 Times Square, 9 West 57th Street and 1333 Broadway (building credit: PropertyShark)

While global economic concerns have landlords of vacant U.S. retail spaces scrambling for any tenant, in Manhattan, landlords are patiently awaiting the perfect tenant for their trophy spaces, the Wall Street Journal reported.

For example, it’s not for lack of interest that the 55,000-square-foot retail space in SJP Properties’ 11 Times Square, at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, has sat vacant for two years. Rather the developer wants to land a big-name and raise the profile of the one million-square-foot tower. [more]

From left: Charles Cohen, Anthony Malkin and 112 West 34th Street

A New York State Supreme Court judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by landlord Charles Cohen against W&H Properties, the tenant at one of Cohen’s buildings at 112 West 34th Street, between Sixth and Seventh avenues, according to Crain’s.

Cohen alleged that W&H had violated its lease agreement, signed in 1963 and valid through 2077, by adding a new glass façade to the building without his permission. W&H pays $840,000 a year in rent, according to reports, a lot less than Cohen could get by renting it nowadays.
The judge said there was not sufficient evidence that W&H made structural changes to the building, Crain’s reported.
Cohen intends to appeal the decision, his lawyer said, but Anthony Malkin, president of W&H, predicted he wouldn’t be successful. [more]

Charles Cohen and Daffy’s

Discount clothing retailer Daffy’s is striking back at landlord Cohen Brothers Realty, owner of 135 East 57th Street, five months after the chain store beat back an effort by the building owner to throw it out of its basement retail space where it is paying a below-market rent.

Secaucus, N.J.-based Daffy’s accused Cohen Brothers of poor upkeep of the building resulting in water damaging the retailer’s mostly-underground 54,000 square feet of space, and is seeking more than $5 million, a suit filed in New York State Supreme Court March 10 shows. In addition, the suit claims Daffy’s has been overcharged for air conditioning, electricity and other expenses.
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From left: Developer Charles Cohen, 1400 Broadway and Anthony Malkin, president of W&H Properties

Developer Charles Cohen is suing W&H Properties, alleging that the company violated a long-term lease at its 1400 Broadway tower by failing to obtain permission to renovate the 38-story property between 38th and 39th streets, Crain’s reported. Cohen is seeking to have the lease terminated. The lease began in 1962 and could be extended all the way to 2063. Last week, the New York Times reported that Cohen was trying to terminate W&H Properties’ lease at 112 West 34th Street for the same reason. “We are seeing a pattern of arrogance from W&H,” said Warren Estis, a partner at Rosenberg & Estis, which is presenting Cohen. [more]

From left: Charles Cohen, Anthony Malkin and 112 West 34th Street

The $81 million Pinnacle Award-nominated renovation of 112 West 34th Street by father-and-son development duo Peter and Anthony Malkin may have won critical acclaim, but it wasn’t actually legal, according to developer Charles Cohen, who owns the building. In a new lawsuit, Cohen alleges that the Malkins’ W&H Properties, which has a 115-year lease on the property dating back to 1963, never got permission to make structural changes, as required by the terms of their agreement. As a result, Cohen is seeking to oust the Malkins and terminate their $840,000-a-year lease, according to the New York Times. [more]

Bruce Mosler and 1290 Sixth Avenue

Bruce Mosler has announced that starting in January, he will no longer be co-chairman of Cushman & Wakefield, a position he assumed in March after stepping down as CEO. Instead, he will become chairman of global brokerage, Mosler told The Real Deal today in an interview at his 1290 Sixth Avenue office. “In January, I am going to return to brokerage full-time as chairman of global brokerage,” said Mosler, who got his start as a real estate broker at Newmark Knight Frank. [more]