Cohen Brothers pulls off $85M refi of Midtown office tower

Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation locked down $85 million to refinance its 32-story Midtown office tower at 135 East 57th Street, according to records filed with the city Wednesday.

Goldman Sachs is the lender, and financing replaces an $85 million loan that German American Capital Corporation provided in 2007. That loan, of which $79 million remains, had been securitized and the CMBS loan expired on April 1 this year.

In 2015, Saks OFF 5th inked a deal for 56,000 square feet at the building, which had been largely empty since 2009. Asking rents in the deal were $120 per square foot.

Late last year, WeWork expanded its lease at the building by 40,00 square feet. The co-working giant now has 100,000 square feet there.

Cohen Brothers, led by Charles Cohen, bought 135 East 57th Street in 1997. The developer owns about 12 million square feet of real estate in New York, Texas, South Florida and Southern California. In New York, its properties include 3 Park Avenue, 750 Lexington Avenue and 622 Third Avenue.

Cohen Brothers declined to comment. Representatives for Goldman Sachs could not be immediately reached.