Forest City Ratner shops stake in Gehry rental tower

Forest City Ratner is looking to cash in on the city’s record-strong residential rental market by selling a stake in Manhattan’s tallest rental building. The Wall Street Journal reported that the developer has commissioned Darcy Stacom, vice chairman of the CBRE Group, to find an investor to take as much as a 49 percent stake in 8 Spruce Street.

The 76-story, 903-unit Frank Gehry-designed building launched last February under the auspices of Citi Habitats and is now 80 percent occupied. Asking rents for the remaining units start at $3,750 per month for one-bedroom apartments and $6,720 per month for two-bedrooms. Three penthouses are also slated to hit the market with asking rents ranging from $40,000 to $60,000 per month.

Forest City, which co-owns the building with the National Electrical Benefit Fund, believes it can get a good price for the $876 million tower because of the demand for New York City multi-family assets and the shortage of such properties for sale.

“We haven’t gone this long without a trophy asset up for sale in my career,” Stacom said. [WSJ]