Cohen to Sell 623 Fifth Ave to Vornado For Massive Discount

Billionaire Charles Cohen is eking out a little liquidity.

Vornado has entered an agreement to buy Cohen’s Manhattan office tower at 623 Fifth Avenue for $218 million, the company announced Monday.

A sale would help pay off Cohen’s nearly $200 million judgement to Fortress Credit Corp. But the price was likely less than he was hoping for: The property was valued at more than three times that amount, $712 million, in 2023, according to a financial statement filed with the court.

Cohen’s fight with Fortress is a result of personally guaranteeing a $534 million loan portfolio. When the billionaire defaulted, Fortress waged war, going after the his personal assets. He lost the buildings backing the loans when Fortress took them in what was among the largest UCC foreclosures of all time.

The lender scored a $187 million judgement in the case in March. With interest, that is now $194.4 million before legal fees, according to a letter from Fortress to the court.

But Cohen says he needs to sell his assets first. Fortress has accused him of dragging his feet, and is seeking to appoint a receiver for the buildings.

Cohen’s lawyers, meanwhile, have said he’s motivated to sell.

“Fortress’s aggressive pursuit of Mr. Cohen is doing nothing more than interfering with efforts to maximize the value of his assets and generate the most amount of liquidity to pay down the Judgment,” his lawyers wrote to the court in June.

Between April and the end of June, Cohen’s representatives met with five different buyers to discuss a sale of 623 Fifth, according to a letter from his lawyers to the judge. The letter from law firm Blank Rome to the court also describes a publicly traded REIT in talks to purchase the property — likely Vornado — alongside a hotel operator and two New York City developers.

The 36-story tower at 623 Fifth Avenue is more than 352,000 square feet and owned by a company that Cohen fully controls. He had intended to convert the building into residential units. As such, it’s 75 percent vacant, according to the release from Vornado.

The Midtown-based real estate firm doesn’t intend to move forward with the conversion, instead intending to redevelop the tower as a Class A office building. Vornado said it plans to close the deal next month and to finish the redevelopment in 2027.

Fortress declined to comment. Cohen Brothers Realty as well as Donald Harwood, an attorney for Cohen in the Fortress case with Harwood Reif LLC, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At least four of Cohen’s properties are in foreclosure proceedings, including one that he intends to sell, 3 East 54th Street, according to a letter from Fortress to the court.