As part of a major repositioning plan, Charles S. Cohen’s 32-story office tower at 135 East 57th Street – a property best known for its spectacular curved façade and striking entranceway – will soon have a new name to go with a newly appointed award-winning leasing agent.
Cohen, CEO of Cohen Brothers Realty Corp., has retained Jones Lang LaSalle’s vice chairman, Scott Panzer, that firm’s top broker worldwide in both 2011 and 2013, as exclusive leasing agent for both 135 East 57th Street as well as 623 Fifth Avenue, another of his Class A office towers.
As part of his announcement, Cohen revealed that 135 East 57th Street will soon erect signage signaling the building’s official new name, “Tower Fifty Seven.”
A number of full floors is currently available for lease at the building, with naming rights a potential perk for an anchor tenant.
“I’m both delighted and honored to have been chosen for this important leasing assignment,” said Panzer, whose real estate career is highlighted by numerous mega deals including NBC Universal’s 1.3 million square foot lease at 30 Rockefeller Center and AXA Equitable’s 800,000 s/f headquarters restructuring at 1290 Avenue of the Americas.
Opened in 1986, 135 East 57th Street, which was designed by the architectural firm of Kohn, Pederson, Fox, was acquired by Cohen in 1997. He refurbished the property’s adjoining vest pocket park into one of the city’s most beautiful public spaces in 2001.
More recently, Cohen transformed the former single user 36-story building (Swiss Bank Tower) at 623 Fifth Avenue into a center for elite financial firms and service providers.
The office building sits above the Saks Fifth Avenue flagship department store.
