Richard Cohen, the Northeast Philadelphia man who built an American porn empire, has placed his Society Hill mansion on the market.
Cohen is best known for establishing Hotmovies.com and a variety of other pornographic content distributors, virtual phone hotlines and nebulously legal escort services.
His fortune, however, is without question. In 2006, Hotmovies.com reportedly grossed about $20 million. Pornstar extraordinaire Ron Jeremy, who promoted Hotmovies.com, crowned Cohen "the king" of the video-on-demand world in a 2011 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
But in October 2010, a major FBI-IRS raid thrust Cohen's name into the news amid a money laundering probe of two of his companies, National A-1 Advertising and R.S. Duffy Inc. He went on to strike a brilliant $6.4 million plea deal with the feds that kept his name clear of all charges. Apart from forfeiting proceeds, Cohen and his partners were forced to sell the domain for Escorts.com, once a bustling hub to connect prostitutes with johns.
As Cohen hit the jackpot in the 1990s and 2000s, he purchased about $10 million worth of real estate in Society Hill, including the six-story office building at 7th and Chestnut streets where he ran his operation.
Where is he now? It's hard to say. He's been described as a bit of a recluse. A listing on Estately shows Cohen's three-story mansion at 328-330 Delancey Street for sale at an asking price of $6,888,000, not far off the mark he agreed to pay federal officials five years ago. From the listing:
Quietly Nestled on Society Hill's most desired Tree-Lined Cobblestone streets with 60 FEET /- of FRONTAGE & Perfectly Sited across from the Physick House Museum Gardens & Three Bears Park, 328-330 Delancey Street is a Masterful Blend of Traditional Architecture and Modern Design encompassing multiple years of collaboration, planning & execution between architects, designers & Artisan Craftsman utilizing the very finest materials & standards to build this ONCE IN A LIFETIME PROPERTY with no expense spared.
The residence features five bedrooms, a rooftop swimming pool, a hot tub and entertainment area, and a fully automated movie theater. There's also an underground parking garage with six spots and a kitchen with a barrel vaulted mosaic glass tiled ceiling.
A few years ago, Cohen sold his condo at the Society Hill Towers at 220 Locust Street. At the time, Curbed Philly jokingly called Cohen's homemaking skills "hilariously outdated," so the glaring "buyer beware" attached to the Delancey Street property goes without saying. For a place in the lap of luxury, it might be best to just mentally delete its history.