Has the housing market hit bottom? Charles Cohen, head of Cohen Brothers Realty was among the nationwide panelists tackling the question in this MSNBC video. Cohen, for his part, said that New York City has seen a move toward recovery. “We’re seeing a general improvement in New York City,” Cohen said. “We’re seeing velocity, stabilization… rents are not going down any further.”

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Rhys Commercial, the new Stamford, Conn.-based real estate advisory firm, has opened its first Westchester County office in White Plains, N.Y. in conjunction with three new assignments in the county, the company announced today. Rhys, which launched less than six months ago under the direction of president and CEO Cory Gubner, is now the exclusive agent for the 106,426-square-foot Elmsford Executive Park off of Route 9, the 1 Corporate Center building at 401 Theodore Fremd Avenue in Rye and the 75,000-square-foot office building at 99 Business Park Drive in Armonk. The new Rhys branch is at 333 Westchester Avenue, the former General Foods headquarters complex owned by developer Charles Cohen. TRD

(Photograph by Ben Baker for The Real Deal)

From the March issue: Charles Cohen is the president and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, the company founded by his family in the 1950s. CBRC owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of office space and design centers across the country, including 623 Fifth Avenue, the Decoration & Design Building and the Pacific Design Center — designed by Argentine architect César Pelli — in West Hollywood, Calif. He was also the coproducer of the film “Frozen River,” which in 2009 received Oscar nominations for best original screenplay and best actress. This month, Cohen sat down with The Real Deal to talk about the movie business, real estate lessons from his dad, and why trivia isn’t trivial. [more]

The Daffy’s location at 135 East 57th Street and Charles Cohen

Charles Cohen, CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty, is looking to oust discount clothing retailer Daffy’s from its 50,000 square feet of space at 135 East 57th Street, after allegedly receiving backdated lease renewal forms from the tenant, according to the Post. In a lawsuit Cohen filed against the clothier, the landlord claims that Daffy’s missed its deadline to renew its lease at the Midtown side space, in which it had been a tenant since 1994, before Cohen owned the building, but then sent the renewal papers several days later with incorrect dates. “I am outraged and shocked that somebody would resort to a cover-up instead of reaching out in advance,” Cohen said. According to the suit, Daffy’s already intends to head into court to retain its spot. [more]

From left: Charles Cohen of Cohen Brothers Realty and Bruce Mosler of Cushman & Wakefield

When outgoing Cushman & Wakefield CEO Bruce Mosler steps down March 22, he’ll be settling into both his new role as co-chairman and a “strategic real estate consultant” position for developer pal Charles Cohen. Cohen, president and CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty, has assembled what he is calling a “dream team” of Cushman hotshots to lease and reposition four of his most prominent Manhattan commercial properties. Joining Mosler will be Arthur Mirante, another former Cushman CEO, and brokers Edward Weiss and Joseph Cabrera. The team will handle the exclusive leasing agencies for 3 Park Avenue, 805 Third Avenue, 3 East 54th Street and Grand Central Palza at 622 Third Avenue, according to a statement released today. Australian shopping center owner Glenn Rufrano will take over the reins as Cushman CEO, while Mosler is under a three-year contract to remain at the company as co-chairman, he told The Real Deal in his first interview after his successor was named. TRD [more]

Successful real estate must be “connected to a community of interest,” said Charles Cohen, president and CEO of the Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation. In an interview with the New York Times, Cohen, 57, explained that he got involved with the design community during the 1990s, and the niche stuck with him. His company now owns more than 12 million square feet of office and design center properties across the country, including the Decoration & Design Building in Manhattan, which he says has a 100 percent occupancy rate. He’s currently working on renovating an office building at 32nd Street and Park Avenue South, and he’s building two fountains on the corner of 57th Street and Lexington Avenue. Recently, his affection for the film industry led him to step in and help the Film-Makers’ Corporation, which was facing eviction in Tribeca. He said the situation “struck a note” with him, so he called the group and offered to rent them space at his 475 Park Avenue South for $1 per year.

The Film-Makers’ Cooperative
has signed a five-year lease for space at developer Charles Cohen’s 475
Park Avenue South, at 32nd Street. For a rent of $1 a year, Cohen, a
film aficionado, gave the non-profit group — which archives, distributes and
restores experimental and avant-garde films — an approximately
3,600-square-foot space on the sixth floor. The film group will move
from its 900-square-foot space at the Clock Tower Building in Tribeca, where it
pays about $1 a foot in rent. As part of the move, a 15-seat theater will
also be built in the space. “I was in a position to help, and I thought
that I should,” Cohen said. “They are a wonderful group doing important
work.”

Left to right: 135 East 57th Street, Charles Cohen, 465 Park Avenue

Developer Charles Cohen is buying the 42,600-square-foot retail
condominium at 465 Park Avenue, now home to Borders Books, from
Shorenstein Properties for $22 million, according to the Post. The
purchase will give Cohen control of the four-level retail unit at the
base of the Ritz Tower co-op building, at 57th Street, where Borders’
lease expires in January 2018. Borders itself once put the lease on the
market. Cohen’s acquisition comes just as he’s in the midst of
reconfiguring the store space at 135 East 57th Street, at Lexington
Avenue, where tenants are moving around. Salon Pierre Michel, which
occupies the ground and second floors, is moving to the third floor,
Alice Kwartier jewelry shop recently exited and Spa Lather is expected
to leave soon. The three vacancies will open up 17,900 square feet in
the space. Cohen’s leasing agent is Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of
retail leasing and sales at Prudential Douglas Elliman, who said the
ground floor asking rent will be between $300 and $350 per square foot.
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