Fortress Wins Foreclosure Auction for Charles Cohen Properties

A monthslong legal battle between Fortress Investment Group and Charles Cohen ended Friday with little fanfare — in a 22-minute auction with one bidder.

Fortress used credit bids totaling $148.7 million in the foreclosure sale of Cohen Realty Enterprises’ equity interest in a grab bag of assets. The lender acquired stakes in three properties in New York and Florida and a U.K movie chain, putting it on a path to control them.

Fortress sued Cohen Realty Enterprises in March, alleging that it defaulted on a $534 million loan and that Cohen owed over $187 million in personal guarantees. Fortress then initiated a foreclosure in April.

At the auction, it bid $76 million for the Design Center of the Americas and $30 million for a Le Méridien hotel, both in Dania Beach, Florida. It bid $37.7 million for a Westchester development site formerly known as the Doral Arrowwood golf club and $5 million for a U.K. movie theater chain and film distribution company.

No one bid for 100 percent ownership of U.S.-based independent movie theater chain Landmark Theatres or its concession business, leaving questions about their fate.

Both sides declined to comment after the sale, but the mood in the 51st-floor conference room was cordial despite months of legal wrangling and a recent filing by Fortress alleging that Cohen is attempting to shield personal assets from the lender.

Matthew Mannion of Mannion Auctions was the auctioneer. Newmark’s Brock Cannon brokered the UCC foreclosure sale.

Cohen had sought to nix the auction. His attorneys argued the $534 million loan was not in default because the firm had reached a deal months prior to restructure.

A judge allowed the auction to proceed and that Cohen was liable for the personal guarantees.

Cohen continues to own a slew of other properties, including Manhattan office buildings, but a number of them are struggling because of the rise of remote work and interest rates.