William G. Cohen
Mr. Cohen is celebrating his 24th year as a principal of Newmark Knight Frank, has been a leasing broker in the New York metropolitan area for 30 years, contributing to Newmark’s expansion from a local institution to a global presence. Mr. Cohen is widely known as an agent who goes far beyond merely finding and filling empty spaces, often using and advocating methods before they become industry trends. From originating the “pre-built” movement to recognizing security as an intrinsic facet of building management and embracing the needs of new industries and fitting them into the complicated matrix of Manhattan real estate, Mr. Cohen has a demonstrated knack for reading the real estate scene and correctly forecasting changes to come.
Having served as agent for over 25 million feet of commercial space over his career, Mr. Cohen currently serves as agent for over 6.5 million square feet. Mr. Cohen has been credited with a number of successful leasing and marketing campaigns, including:
- The Empire State Building*
- Carnegie Hall Tower *
- One Grand Central Place (60 East 42nd Street)*
- 2 Grand Central Tower (140 East 45thStreet)*
- CitySpire
- Trump Tower
- The Rockefeller Townhouses*
- 1040 Avenue of the Americas*
- 500 Fifth Avenue
- 387 Park Avenue South*
- 80 Broad Street*
- 645 Madison Avenue*
- 260 Madison Avenue
- 261 Madison Avenue
- 125 Park Avenue
- 111 Broadway
- 115 Broadway
- 75 Broad Street (NYTeleX)
- 86 Chambers Street*
- 20 West 55th Street*
* current assignment
In addition to serving as agent for over 20 million square feet of commercial space, Mr. Cohen has played an instrumental role in many notable (and sometimes record-setting) building sales, totaling over 3 million square feet. Among them are 500 Fifth Avenue, 111 & 115 Broadway, 125 Park Avenue, 636 11th Avenue, 500 Tenth Avenue (a long-term net lease) and, most recently, 165 West 57th Street, the CAMI Building. Current projects include Carnegie Hall Tower, 645 Madison Avenue, 11 East 44th Street, and 1040 Avenue of the Americas.
Mr. Cohen’s professional affiliations and memberships include: Grand Central District Management Association (Board Member), Grand Central Partnership (Board Member), Bryant Park Management Corporation (Board Member), YM/WREA Board of Governors (served three terms), YM/WREA Membership Committee and Issues & Actions Committee, Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) Meetings Committee, REBNY Plaza District Committee, REBNY Commercial Brokerage Division, REBNY Economic Development Committee (Board Member), the Modell Foundation (Board Member), the Strategic Forum (Board Member), CoreNet Global, International Council of Shopping Centers, and the Skyscraper Museum.
Mr. Cohen is a frequent visiting lecturer at New York University’s Real Estate Institute, Commercial Property World International Conferences and Real Estate Board of New York Seminars. Mr. Cohen has been approved as a New York court appointed receiver for foreclosures and bankruptcies, and as such is included on the Office of Court Administration Fiduciary List maintained by the court.
Mr. Cohen currently sits on the board of directors of the Manhattan Council for the Boy Scouts of America. He served as chairman of the Boy Scouts’ Greater New York Exploring Division for ten years and is currently vice-chair of their newly formed Development Steering Committee. He is involved with PENCIL, including their Principal for a Day program.
Mr. Cohen holds a finance degree from the University of Miami and lives in Westport, Connecticut, with his wife and two children.
