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<\/p>\nReal estate billionaire Charles Cohen was given 45 days to come up with $135M, or a wide swath of his 12M SF real estate portfolio will be handed over to his lender-turned-nemesis, Fortress Investment Group.<\/p>\n
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\n Charles Cohen\n <\/p>\n
A New York state judge\u00a0on Monday ordered 16 of Cohen’s holding companies to be placed into receivership, appointing David Moson, Fortress<\/a>‘\u00a0head of U.S. real estate asset management, as receiver.<\/p>\n The order gives Cohen ownership rights to the properties for 45 days\u00a0as he tries to finalize property sales but requires him to immediately share\u00a0all information on their finances, tenants, inspection reports and past monetary transfers, plus \u201cany other information the court or receiver may request.\u201d\u00a0Crain’s New York Business first reported<\/a> the decision.<\/p>\n Cohen was ordered to pay Fortress a $187.3M personal guarantee last year after he defaulted on a $534M loan. The mogul’s plan was to sell off properties to cover the debt, but his two sales to date \u2014\u00a0of 623 Fifth Ave.<\/a> and 3 E. 54th St.<\/a>, both to Vornado Realty Trust<\/a> \u2014 only generated $52M of proceeds.<\/p>\n In January,\u00a0Cohen\u00a0asked for more time<\/a> to sell off other assets, saying in a court filing that he and his team were best equipped to get the highest\u00a0price.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI am motivated by self-interest to put this behind me not only for my sake, but most importantly, for the sake of my family, our employees and long-term colleagues at Cohen Brothers<\/a> who have been with me for decades,\u201d he wrote at the time. \u201cThe appointment of a receiver would be the worst possible outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortress argued that Cohen was dragging out the process and shielding\u00a0his assets in an effort to get it to settle for a smaller payout. It also said the buildings Cohen was actively marketing, 622 Third Ave. and a Westchester County<\/a> office complex, had little to no equity value and wouldn’t cover the remaining debt.<\/p>\n This week, New York Supreme Court Judge\u00a0Joel Cohen sided with Fortress. He ordered Cohen to open up the books on 16 ownership entities that hold many of his prime remaining assets, including:<\/p>\n After 45 days, if Cohen hasn’t progressed on his property sales, Fortress\u00a0will be automatically granted the ability to seize the ownership interests of those properties and start its own sales process, the judge wrote.<\/p>\n The receivership order is the latest blow Fortress has dealt Cohen following his loan default. The lender\u00a0triggered the largest UCC foreclosure auction in history<\/a>, taking over three properties and a UK movie theater chain in the process. But those assets didn’t cover a personal guarantee Cohen had agreed to in 2022 to secure the loan, the source of the now-yearslong battle for repayment.<\/p>\n\n