Bruce Ratner: Airbnb is a “remarkable thing”: VIDEO

Developer described the hospitality industry as "inefficient"

Bruce Ratner
Bruce Ratner

Forest City Ratner’s Bruce Ratner yesterday expressed his unbridled support for home-sharing website Airbnb, calling the service a “terrific, amazing, remarkable thing.”

In an interview on Bloomberg News’ “In the Loop,” Ratner said, “The more we can help people for less money and more comfortably live in a place — hospitality-wise, car-wise, the better it is for everybody.” He also called hospitality an “inefficient industry.”

Airbnb recently received a $20 billion valuation.

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Ratner said that while he doesn’t believe Forest City’s core businesses — residential condominiums and rentals — will be affected by Airbnb, he said the website “obviously substantially affects”the hospitality industry. Airbnb has been the focus of a fierce citywide debate on hotel regulations.

Ratner also touted the virtues of coworking space provider WeWork, saying that it’s good for start-up tenants who get to share amenities. “It’s good for us landlords, too, because it uses up vacant space,” he said. [Bloomberg News] — Tess Hofmann