An embattled mall owner with a number of troubled shopping centers across the country appears to be behind the acquisition of four Penn District office buildings, records show.
Mehran Kohansieh, who also goes by the name Mike Kohan and founded the Long Island-based firm Kohan Retail Investment Group, which specializes in shopping malls and retail spaces, signed the deeds for 341, 343 and 345 Seventh Ave. plus 167 W. 29th St. for a total of $85 million, according to the transaction report, which appeared in the city record Thursday, and information from the buyers.
Kohansieh apparently purchased the Manhattan properties in partnership with SoHo-based developer Katan Realty Group and Ilya Mikhailov, the founder of an investment firm in Forest Hills, Queens.
Kohansieh and crew purchased the four buildings under a limited liability company based in Great Neck — where Kohansieh’s company is located — and named after one of the addresses. Their previous owners were Igal Namdar, of Namdar Realty Group, also based in Great Neck, and Abraham Khalilim, who bought the buildings for $107 million in 2021, records show. Neither Namdar nor Khalilim responded to a request for comment by press time.
One of the buildings included in the transaction is 345 Seventh Ave., the 25-story office tower that’s likely poised for residential conversion, Crain’s previously reported. The other three — 341 and 343 Seventh Ave. plus 167 W. 29th St. — stand just three-or-four stories tall and sit adjacent to No. 345. Eric Katan, of Katan Realty Group, told Crain’s Friday, however, that the smaller, neighboring buildings also have the potential to be developed into a 40-story residential or commercial tower.
Kohansieh is apparently delinquent on $1.7 million in unpaid taxes on his personal income, according to state records, and either has been wrapped up in foreclosure or other legal troubles at several of the nearly 50 malls he owns across the country, including in Iowa, New Jersey and Louisiana, according to reports from local papers in recent years.
Attempts to reach Kohansieh were unsuccessful by press time.
This story has been updated to indicate a corrected address: 345 Seventh Ave.
