Charles Cohen Plans $350M Spec Office Tower in Dania Beach
Charles Cohen is building a $350M spec office project in Dania Beach after paying off the $187M Fortress judgment that had frozen his assets.
Charles Cohen is moving ahead with Office Center of the Americas, a $350 million speculative office project planned for Dania Beach, months after paying off the $187 million judgment debt that had tied up his personal assets in a fight with Fortress Investment Group.
Why it matters
Spec office construction, breaking ground without a signed anchor tenant, has been one of the harder bets in commercial real estate since the pandemic pushed vacancy up nationwide. Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation is doing it anyway, betting that a site near Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Interstate 95 will draw tenants once the buildings are ready. The project also marks a turnaround for Cohen personally. He spent more than two years fighting Fortress in court over a personal loan guaranty, a fight that also cost him the nearby Design Center of the Americas to foreclosure, according to Commercial Observer. Cohen Brothers said in a June 18 release that the Fortress judgment has been paid in full, clearing the way for Cohen to pursue new ground-up development in South Florida.
The numbers
Office Center of the Americas will rise at 1805 and 1815 Griffin Road as two 10-story towers totaling 400,000 square feet, each with its own four-story parking garage and floorplates of up to 14,000 square feet, Commercial Observer reported. The towers are designed to connect through landscaped terraces and promenades, with Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolfe & Associates as architect and Cooper Horowitz arranging construction financing. The estimated $350 million cost covers both phases. Separately, Cohen Brothers Realty’s own release confirmed the $187 million Fortress judgment, entered against Cohen after an appellate court ruled for Fortress in February 2025, is now paid off.
What’s next
Cohen Brothers has not disclosed a groundbreaking date or delivery timeline for either phase. For South Florida developers, OCOTA is a live test of whether a well-located, amenity-heavy office building near an international airport can lease up without pre-signed tenants in a market still working through excess office supply.