$85M note secured by Cohen Brothers Midtown East office building sold, buyer anonymous
3 East 54th Street (Credit - Google)
The entity Midtown Manhattan Lender LLC with unknown ownership, in care of the law firm Wachtel Missry, bought a note with an original principal of $85 million from Forethought Life Insurance Company secured by Cohen Brothers Realty‘s office building (O6) at 3 East 54th Street in Midtown East, Manhattan.
Cohen Brothers was moving forward with a plan in 2020 to use air rights and zoning incentives to build large tower at the site. Charles Cohen signed a memorandum of contract in 2020 with St. Bartholomew’s Church to transfer 58,800 square feet of development rights from the church at 321 Park Avenue in Plaza District to Cohen Brother’s 3 East 54th Street. Cohen Brothers planned to demolish and rebuild its midblock, mid-century office tower, 3 East 54th Street, utilizing the East Midtown rezoning passed in 2017, which allowed for the transfer of development rights throughout the rezoned district. In 2016, Cohen Brothers wrote a letter it sent to the city expressing interest in demolishing and rebuilding a tower on the site, saying “A mixed-use development containing commercial, residential, and possibly hotel uses would realize the site’s potential by providing high quality office space for smaller firms that like full-floor offices and, potentially, by strengthening the East Midtown hospitality market.”
Those plans were stalled by Covid and other financial strains on older office buildings.
Forethought Life filed a pre-foreclosure action in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan last year, 659755/2024. There have been no filings since April 2025 in that case. The new lender has not yet filed papers noticing the parties of the change in plaintiff.
The note sale closed on July 24, 2025 and was recorded on July 31, 2025. The prior lender was Forethought Life Insurance Company which held debt that had an original loan amount of $85 million.The property has 283,465 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data.
Charles S. Cohen and his family’s Cohen Brothers Realty, are under significant financial pressure.
Latest Cohen Brothers Realty Stories:
• Fortress sues Charles Cohen seeking $28.3M in a alleged carry guaranty (March 17, 2025)
• Investors buy $121M note secured by Cohen Brothers’ 475 Park Ave South (August 14, 2024)
• $130M pre-foreclosure filed at Cohen Brothers Lenox Hill office tower (May 13, 2024)
• Cohen Brothers signs $100M refi with Fortress for office in Midtown East (September 28, 2022)
• Cohen Brothers to buy St. Bart’s air rights to redevelop 3 East 54th Street (June 16, 2020)
Prior sales and revenue
The 283,465-square-foot property generated revenue of $17.4 million or $62 per square foot, according to the most recent income and expense figures.
The property
The office building in Midtown East has 283,465 square feet of built space according to a PincusCo analysis of city data. The parcel has frontage of 183 feet and is 100 feet deep with a total lot size of 18,409 square feet. The zoning is C5-2.5 which allows for up to 12 times floor area ratio (FAR) for commercial The city-designated market value for the property in 2022 is $80.7 million.
Violations and lawsuits
The property was involved in one lawsuit and zero bankruptcies over the past two years. The suit was a $85 million commercial foreclosure concerning a loan filed on December 19, 2024, by Forethought Life Insurance Company against Cohen Brothers Realty and Charles Cohen. In addition, according to city public data, the property has received $9,230 in OATH penalties in the last year.
Development
There are no active new building construction projects or major alteration projects with initial costs more than $1 million on this tax lot.
The neighborhood
In Midtown East, The majority, or 81 percent of the 62.6 million square feet of commercial built space are office buildings, with hotel buildings next occupying 7 percent of the space. In sales, Midtown East has the 2nd highest sale turnover among other neighborhoods in the city with $2.6 billion in sales volume in the last two years. For development, Midtown East is the 3rd most active neighborhood among other neighborhoods. It had 19 million square feet of commercial and multi-family construction under development in the last two years, which represents 30 percent of the neighborhood’s built space. There was one pre-foreclosure suit filed among other office buildings in the past 12 months.
The block
On this tax block, PincusCo has identified the owners of eight of the 23 commercial properties representing 942,276 square feet of the 2,083,024 square feet. The largest owner is Vornado Realty Trust, followed by Boston Properties and then Benenson Capital Partners.
There are no active new building construction projects on this tax block.
The majority, or 86 percent of the 2.1 million square feet of built space are office buildings, with retail buildings next occupying 11 percent of the space.
The borrower
The PincusCo database currently indicates that Cohen Brothers Realty owned at least three commercial properties in New York City with 1,113,695 square feet and a city-determined market value of $346.8 million. (Market value is typically about 50% of actual value.) The portfolio has $396 million in debt, borrowed from Citibank and Third Avenue Design Capital. Within the portfolio, the bulk, or 94 percent of the 1,113,695 square feet of built space are office properties, with M1 properties next occupying 6 percent of the space. They are all located in Manhattan.
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