Tag Archive for: charles s cohen

Cohen Brothers Announces New 400,000 SF Class A Office Tower, Names CBRE Exclusive Leasing Agent

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Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation of Florida (CBRC) has announced the development of West Palm Point, a new 2.4-acre development with a 400,000-square-foot Class A office tower and amenities in West Palm Beach.

The 26-story office tower will offer tenants a variety of amenities including a one-of-a-kind private landscaped rooftop park, 14,416 square feet of premier ground floor retail space, multiple fast-casual restaurants, a fitness center, conference rooms and unobstructed views of the intracoastal waterway and Atlantic Ocean.

Pelli Clarke & Partners and Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolf are the architects of record.

“Pelli Clarke & Partners, the internationally renowned design architecture firm behind West Palm Point, has designed another masterpiece that will be appreciated around the world,” said Charles S. Cohen. 

CBRC has appointed CBRE as the exclusive office leasing agent. John Criddle, Joe Freitas and Max Pawk with CBRE will lead local marketing and leasing efforts in partnership with Marc Horowitz from Cohen Brothers in New York.

“Our team is fielding calls and scheduling meetings with local and national tenants who recognize the elevated level of quality and experience a Pelli Clarke & Partners building will bring to the West Palm Beach Central Business District,” said Criddle. “There is no doubt West Palm Point will be a world-class office destination serving one of the fastest-growing cities in the financial services and corporate sectors.”

The West Palm Point development will occupy a full city block at the intersection of Okeechobee Blvd. and Quadrille Blvd. in downtown West Palm Beach, including a Class A office tower and an adjacent parking structure.

The 10-story parking garage will have space for approximately 1,250 automobiles and 120 bicycles, as well as a rooftop gathering area with a café, shaded seating, paseo, and water feature. Additionally, there will be outdoor seating between the office building and parking structure to help support population growth of downtown.

Construction is anticipated to commence in the fourth quarter of 2023, with expected tenant occupancy beginning in the third quarter of 2026.

CBRC is one of the foremost private office real estate development and management corporations in the United States, led by award-winning developer Charles S. Cohen. CBRC owns and manages over 12 million square feet of prime office, design showroom, and retail properties in Manhattan and Westchester County, New York; West Hollywood, California; Houston, Texas; and Dania Beach.

 

West Palm Beach To Consider 400,000-SF Office Tower

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A 400,000-square-foot office building could be developed in downtown West Palm Beach if New York-based Cohen Brothers Realty obtains approval to lease a municipal site.

On April 20, the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency will consider approving a lease with the developer, led by Charles S. Cohen, for the 2.4-acre property at 801 S. Dixie Highway. It’s often called the “tent site” because the CRA has set up tents there for special events.

The process began May 2019 when the CRA accepted a letter of intent from Cohen Brothers Realty to start negotiations. The terms of the deal are now hammered out.

The proposed contract says the developer would build at least 400,000 square feet of Class A office space, up to 1,800 parking spaces, and retail space. The project must obtain at least silver-level LEED certification for green building practices and have double-sized sidewalks.

Allison Justice, interim director of the CRA, said no preliminary site plans or renderings have been submitted. It would be up to the city commission to approve the development at a later date.

Under the proposed contract, Cohen Brothers Realty would pay $1.03 million in base rent, with payments commencing when the building obtains its certificate of occupancy. The 49-year lease would have two extension options of 25 years each. The rent would be adjusted annually based on the Consumer Price Index. In addition, the rent would be recalculated every 25 years based on a new appraisal.

For the first 10 years of the lease, the developer would have the exclusive right to buy the property from the CRA.

While the cost of the project wasn’t included in the contract, it was written to provide a significant amount of business to local and diverse firms. The development costs must be allocated to small businesses (15%), the local workforce (10%), minority/women-owned business enterprises (5%), and service-disabled veterans businesses (5%).

Charles Cohen couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. He’s working with Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects and attorney Brian M. Seymour.

After a decade of no activity, the office construction market in downtown West Palm Beach is booming. According to the first quarter report from CBRE, there was 683,095 square feet of office space under construction in the city. The bulk of that is in two projects by the Related Cos. and Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene. The city had a 14.6% office vacancy rate, with negative absorption of 19,040 square feet in the first quarter.

The timeline submitted with the proposed agreement says approvals would take 18 to 24 months. The developer would have 60 days within obtaining building permit approval to start site work, 90 days after completing site work to start vertical construction, and 36 months to finish construction.

 

Source:  SFBJ