Charles Cohen's 25-story, 400,000-square-foot tower just landed a $180 million construction permit after years of lawsuits and a foreclosure fight.
Key Takeaways
- A $180 million construction permit was issued for West Palm Point in July 2026, the week's second-largest in South Florida behind Miami Freedom Park.
- The project survived a $10 million foreclosure suit that was dismissed in January 2026, with the loan later reassigned to a new lender.
- Roughly a quarter of the building is already spoken for through leases, reservations, and letters of intent, before ground has even broken.
If you have driven into downtown West Palm Beach from the west, you probably know this site. It is the big parking lot at Okeechobee and Quadrille: a full city block of asphalt in the middle of everything. According to The Real Deal, that parking lot is finally becoming West Palm Point: a 25-story, 400,000-square-foot Class A office tower at 850 South Quadrille Boulevard, developed by Charles Cohen of New York-based Cohen Brothers Realty. The $180 million construction permit issued in July 2026 was the second-largest in South Florida that week, behind the Miami Freedom Park Permit.
The project was proposed in 2020, but stalled through lawsuits and foreclosure actions in New York and South Florida. It is now moving forward because Cohen, a developer who nearly lost everything, decided this was a piece worth fighting for.
What is West Palm Point?
Designed by the Petronas Towers Firm
The tower was designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners, the firm behind the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the World Financial Center in New York. Nichols Brosch Wurst Wolf is the architect of record. Next door, an 11-story garage will offer about 1,250 parking spaces, 120 bicycle spaces, and a rooftop amenity deck with a cafe and a water feature, plus 14,416 square feet of ground-floor retail space at the base.
$6 million in rent, a quarter pre-leased
Cohen does not own the 2.4-acre site; he leases it from West Palm Beach's Community Redevelopment Agency for about $1 million a year, and he has been paying since 2020. As Larry Mastropieri pointed out on the Discover South Florida Podcast, that is roughly $6 million dollars in lease payments so far, just for the right to build on this parking lot.
The project brochure shows the 15,950-square-foot top floor is already leased and the 24th floor is reserved, with letters of intent for floors 4 and 11 through 16, and CBRE is running the leasing. So, about a quarter of the building is spoken for, and they have not even broken ground yet. It is still a parking lot.
How did the tower survive foreclosure?
The Florida fight: a $10 million default
West Palm Point was supposed to begin construction in late 2023, with tenants moving in by 2026. Instead, in September 2025, the Union Labor Life Insurance Company filed a foreclosure lawsuit in Palm Beach County, alleging default on a $10 million loan that had matured without repayment. In January 2026, a judge dismissed the suit at both parties' request. The terms were not disclosed. In June 2026, the loan was reassigned to a lender managed by hedge fund Farallon Capital Management, which suggests the debt was restructured under a new holder rather than wiped out. Whatever the mechanics, the path to construction has cleared.
Larry's read is that the reassignment itself is the tell: "The lender was foreclosing on him, and another lender basically took over the loan, which is unique. If you're in real bad shape, no other lender is going to take over the loan and just let you continue cooking."
The New York fight: Fortress and a seized yacht
The Florida fight was actually the smaller one. In New York, Cohen was battling Fortress Investment Group over guarantees tied to a $534 million defaulted loan portfolio, a fight that became dramatic enough that an Italian court temporarily seized his 220-foot yacht. Cohen paid off a $187 million judgment in June 2026, countersued Fortress for $204 million over the auction of four of his former properties, and sold New York ground leases for a combined $110 million to Empire State Realty Trust to raise cash.
As Larry summed it up: "He paid off a $187 million judgment, negotiated a resolution on the West Palm Beach foreclosure, and came out with a $180 million construction permit. I'm not advocating for him either way. I'm just saying that sounds like a great story. That's like a superhero story."
Wondering what a growing downtown office market means for home values and rents nearby? Talk to a real estate agent in West Palm Beach who connects the commercial headlines to the residential market. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group or call (561) 556-9853.
What does this mean for downtown West Palm Beach?
A second billionaire makes the same bet
Here is the market signal buried in the drama. Since West Palm Point was first proposed, downtown West Palm Beach has become a real office market, driven by Stephen Ross's towers: One Flagler and 360 Rosemary are completed and fully leased, and Two CityPlace is under construction and set for 2027. West Palm Point would be the first speculative Class A tower this cycle that Ross did not build, meaning a second billionaire developer is now underwriting the same bet on South Florida as the next business capital.
Ross de-risked this project without meaning to. Watching him pre-lease tower after tower with real companies (Wells Fargo picked West Palm Beach for its wealth headquarters) probably made West Palm Point pencil out again. The pre-leasing on Cohen's own building supports that.
The one Florida asset he kept
The Fortress saga stripped Cohen of major Florida assets, including the massive DCOTA design center in Dania Beach and its hotel. West Palm Point is the one Florida property he kept, fought for, and is now building. When a developer loses that much and still writes the checks to hold this specific corner, it says something about what he thinks downtown West Palm Beach is worth.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Charles Cohen?
Charles Cohen runs Cohen Brothers Realty Corporation, a private New York firm with more than 50 years in real estate and over 12 million square feet of office, showroom, and retail space. He is also a film producer and art collector whose Cohen Media Group distributed the Oscar-winning "Parasite." At West Palm Point, he leases the 2.4-acre site from the West Palm Beach CRA for about $1 million per year and has held the ground lease since 2020.
What is West Palm Point?
A planned 25-story, roughly 400,000-square-foot Class A office tower at 850 South Quadrille Boulevard in downtown West Palm Beach, designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners, with an 11-story parking garage and ground-floor retail. A $180 million construction permit was issued in July 2026.
Why was the project delayed for so long?
It was proposed in 2020 but stalled through lawsuits and foreclosure actions. A $10 million foreclosure suit filed in September 2025 was dismissed in January 2026, and the loan was reassigned to a new lender in June 2026, clearing the way for the construction permit.
Is anyone leasing space there yet?
Yes. The top floor is shown as leased and the 24th floor as reserved, with letters of intent for floors 4 and 11 through 16, roughly a quarter of the building before groundbreaking. CBRE is the exclusive leasing agent.
Does downtown West Palm Beach need more office space?
The track record suggests demand is there. Stephen Ross's One Flagler and 360 Rosemary are completed and fully leased, Two CityPlace is under construction for 2027, and West Palm Point's early leasing shows tenants committing before the building exists.
Local help for buyers and investors in West Palm Beach
If you are buying, selling, or investing in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, or Palm Beach Gardens, it helps to work with a team that follows the big projects and what they mean for the neighborhoods around them. Reach out to The Mastropieri Group Realtors®. For practical, hands-on support across West Palm Beach, call (561) 556-9853. You can also browse current homes for sale in West Palm Beach.
Posted by Larry Mastropieri
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