Cohen Brothers paid $25 million for the General Foods property.

In large part, the current slow economy is the main cause of Cohen Brothers' problems, according to company spokesmen and economic development specialists.

To date, Cohen Brothers has leased about 100,000 square feet of the 193,000-square-foot south building, but none of the other three buildings.

On Dec. 31, 2003, Cohen Brothers must have 67 percent of the space leased out.

But the weak economy is not the only reason that Cohen Brothers has fallen behind schedule.

Why not something a little more obvious, like Cohen Brothers?

The board leased the air rights to Cohen Brothers and issued bonds against the lease payments to finance school construction.

With this purchase, Cohen Brothers will have committed to buy over three million square feet of office space in 1997.

Cohen Brothers said the building's lobby will also be extensively rehabilitated.

The move leaves Cohen Brothers with nearly 900,000 square feet to fill in the building on Third Avenue.