The legal battle between real estate tycoon and prominent design center landlord Charles Cohen and his lenders continues to play out across the country. Now he is back in the headlines, filing an affidavit as part of a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from lender Fortress Investment Group, which accused him of transferring a home and yacht to his wife to shield the assets.
Since 2022, Cohen has been embroiled in a series of legal troubles related to a string of unpaid loans. Last year, he faced a protracted legal battle with Fortress over nonpayment on a $534 million loan, which led to a foreclosure auction that saw Cohen lose the Design Center of the Americas in Dania Beach, Florida. Fortress conducted a forced auction, acquiring the DCOTA (which Cohen had purchased in 2005) in a credit bid of $76 million. In March, a judge ordered Cohen to pay the lender a personal guarantee of $187 million—included in the terms of the loan, which listed the DCOTA and several other assets as collateral—after his $500 million-plus loan default.
Cohen’s company, Cohen Brothers Realty, still controls some 12 million square feet of commercial buildings, including three remaining design centers: the Decoration & Design Building in New York, the Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles and the Decorative Center Houston. Since May, DCH has been caught up in Cohen’s financial troubles as well, with Wells Fargo (which purchased the debt from the original lender, New York–based Ladder Capital Finance) alleging that he defaulted on a $50 million loan from 2014 that listed the Texas design center as collateral. For the past two months, DCH has been headed to the foreclosure auction block—dates were scheduled both June 3 and then July 1, but the property has evaded sale both times.
On July 23, national sales training and business development expert Alison Mullins guides you through the process of visualizing your dream design client—and using data you already have to attract more of them. Click h to learn more and remember, workshops are free for ereBOH Insiders.
And he is not done with his original plaintiff, Fortress, which recently filed a lawsuit alleging that he unlawfully transferred ownership of several assets—including a 30-acre residence in Greenwich, Connecticut, and a 220-foot yacht—to his wife, Clodagh Margaret Jacobs, in a move to shield the full value of his assets from creditors. Fortress estimates the value of the home at $20 million and the yacht at $50 million.
As reported yesterday by Crain’s, Cohen fought back in court, filing an affidavit in New York Supreme Court last week denying the allegations and stating that he has “more than sufficient assets to cover any payment obligations.” He went on to say in his statement: “During my tenure as a business person, I have never failed to make good on my financial obligations or the financial obligations of my businesses. I do not intend to dissipate any of my assets to evade a judgment. Fortress’ allegations to the contrary are flat-out wrong and downright insulting.”