Charles Cohen repositioning retail on 57th Street

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.