Cohen Bros. buy Swiss Bank Tower.

In an innovative and complex transaction, an affiliate of Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation has acquired the Swiss Bank Tower, the 29-story office building located above the Saks Fifth Avenue department store in Midtown Manhattan, subject to a long-term lease by Swiss Bank Corporation. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The air rights and lease to the condominium interest were purchased from SB Tower Holdings, an affiliate of Investcorp, an international investment firm. Also included in the purchase was a right of first refusal on the transfer of the leasehold by Swiss Bank Corporation, according to Cohen Brothers Realty President and CEO Charles Steven Cohen.

The property's air rights were leased to Swiss Bank Corporation in the mid 1980's by Saks, which was subsequently acquired by SB Tower Holdings, Inc. The long-term air rights and lease allowed Swiss Bank to finance the development of its 312,000 square-foot Class A office tower, which serves as its U.S. headquarters.

Noting that the highly structured purchase "adds a unique world-class asset to the Cohen Brothers portfolio," Cohen said that the asset "will serve to expand and diversify our interests, as have our other recent Class A office purchases. Although the Swiss Bank Tower purchase is complex, involving numerous parties in an ongoing transaction, we were extremely pleased to be dealing with the world caliber organizations such as Investcorp, Saks Fifth Avenue, Swiss Bank and their respective advisors."

The transaction was financed by Nomura Asset Capital Corporation.

Occupying one of the world's premiere locations - mid-block between Fifth and Madison Avenues with frontages on both East 49th and 50th streets - Swiss Bank Tower is situated directly across from Rockefeller Center and just south of St. Patrick's Cathedral. One of the largest and most highly-rated financial institutions in the world, Swiss Bank Corporation, occupies approximately 160,000 square feet of the office tower and directly leases the balance of space to approximately 15 industrial, banking and finance companies.

Completed in 1990, the office building - a steel frame, limestone clad tower - was designed by architectural firms Lee Harris Pomeroy and Abromovitz Kingsland Schiff. High-speed elevators approached from the street level lobby on both 49th and 50th streets, service the expansive two-story sky lobby, where the upper floors (11 through 39 floor) are accessed.

The original nine-story Saks Fifth Avenue department store, which is now designated a New York City landmark, was completed in 1924, and an extension of the original building was completed in 1990 on a site immediately to the rear of the original store, below the Swiss Bank Tower. In conjunction with the extension of the department store building, an air rights lease was entered into with Swiss Bank Corporation. Upon expiration of the lease in 2086, control and ownership of the tower will pass to the owner, and therefore the lease is akin to a long-term ground leasehold.

Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, which owns and manages over six million square feet of Manhattan commercial space, has been active for over 40 years in real estate investment, ownership, management and development.