Arthur Cohen, the New York City developer who created the nation’s largest publicly held real estate company and helped rehabilitate Times Square, died last week at his home in Kings Point at the age of 84.
“There was a time when every deal had Arthur Cohen,” Andrew Albstein, a lawyer who worked with Cohen, told the New York Observer in 2011. “If there was a deal to be done in New York, you had to go through him.”
Cohen, who took his Arlen Realty and Development Corporation public in 1971, helped rebrand Times Square by investing in An Office Tower And The Crowne Plaza hotel, according to the New York Times. He also developed the Westyard Distribution Center in 1970 and helped Ian Schrager become a successful hotelier.
That’s not too mention helping to build One Worldwide Plaza and a skyscraper across from Carnegie Hall.
In 1991, Newsday reported that Cohen had his hand in one in seven real estate deals in New York City. And Fortune said Cohen operated “on a larger scale” than the powerful developer William Zeckendorf “at his zenith.” [NYT] – Christopher Cameron