10 MetroTech and Forest City Enterprises CEO David Larue
A Brooklyn office building that Forest City Ratner has owned since 1989 is slated for demolition for the development of housing, according to vociferous Atlantic Yards critic Norman Oder, writing for the New York Observer. The seven-story, 359,000-square-foot property dubbed 10 MetroTech Center has a $40 million mortgage that’s in default. [more]
Mayor Ed Koch
From the December issue: Mayor Ed Koch and other city officials unveiled an agreement with Forest City Enterprises and the Polytechnical Institute of New York to build a $340 million office, retail and research complex in Downtown Brooklyn 28 years ago this month. The City Hall announcement identified Cleveland-based Forest City as the main developer for the MetroTech Center project, which received a 99-year lease and 22 years of tax abatements as part of the deal. In addition, Polytechnical was selected to build a $12.4 million library. [more]
From left: Zerhy Jereis, the Ridge Hill development and Sandy Annabi
A former Yonkers councilwoman was sentenced to six years in prison for accepting bribes in exchange for her vote on real estate deals, the New York Post reported.
Sandy Annabi, who voted with developers on deals — including the high-end mixed-use development Ridge Hill in Yonkers — was also ordered to pay more than $1.4 million in fines and restitution, the Post said. The shopping and residential center’s developer of that project, Forest City Enterprises, was not charged, according to previous reports. [more]
From left: Queens Place and Nine Metrotech
Forest City Ratner’s Cleveland-based parent company Forest City Enterprises completed more than $300 million in property financings in the quarter ending Jan. 31, 2012, including two worth a combined $163 million in New York City, it announced today.
The company closed a 10-year, $87 million loan for Queens Place, a 455,000-square-foot, five-level retail center on Queens Boulevard. It also purchased the existing $75 million loan at Nine Metrotech, a 317,000-square-foot office building in the MetroTech Center office campus in downtown Brooklyn, and then closed a new 10-year, $63 million loan for the same property. [more]
Forest City Enterprises, developer of the Barclay’s
Center at Atlantic Yards, reported third-quarter losses of $41.9
million, or 25 cents per share, according to a report from
International Business Times. Leasing difficulties at a Florida mall and disposition of an office building in Cleveland were cited as main reasons for the third quarter net loss.
The company saw $4.3 million in losses from vacancies in two Brooklyn
office properties, $4 million
in write-offs from stalled development projects, and $3.3 million in losses
from slower-than-expected leasing at 8 Spruce Street, the Frank
Gehry-designed residential tower. The company said it has
leased 550 of 903 apartments in the building…. [more]
Developers have built too much parking garage space in some of the city’s newest mall developments including the Gateway Center at the Bronx Terminal Market, according to real estate professionals speaking at a panel this morning at the International Council of Shopping Centers New York convention.
Parking floors are sitting mostly empty in some projects even as the overall mall might do well, the retail owners and brokers said.
“What that really tells you going forward is that there is a case to be made that you don’t necessarily need as much parking if it is just urban vertical retail,” said Larry Rose, a principal with advisory firm RK Realty Advisors.
… [more]
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From left: David LaRue of Forest City Enterprises, 8 Spruce Street and DKLB BKLN
Forest City Enterprises and National Real Estate Advisors announced agreements to restructure the financing at 8 Spruce Street, the Frank Gehry-designed 76-story rental tower in Lower Manhattan and at DKLB BKLN the luxury tower in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, saving the companies hundreds of millions of dollars in debt payments.
The development is key for Forest City, the parent firm of Forest City Ratner, as this $876 million rental tower, formerly known as the Beekman, was under pressure to bring in enough renters to become profitable in a market that is just getting its sea legs.
“By extending the bank credit facilities, it allows for additional time for economic conditions and rents to further improve before refinancing is necessary,” said David LaRue, CEO of Forest City Enterprises, in a statement…. [more]
Joanne Minieri stepped down as president of the New York subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises today, the same day the firm sold 49 percent of its stake in 15 New York City properties. Minieri will continue to advise the New York arm, Forest City Ratner, on major projects, but will launch her own venture geared towards consulting real estate developers and financial services companies.
Minieri joined Forest City Enterprises in 1995 and was promoted to president and COO in 2007. As president she has been closely involved in Forest City’s Atlantic Yards project including breaking ground on the Barclays Center that will be home to the Nets.TRD… [more]
Madison International Realty today said it entered a joint venture to buy a 49 percent stake in Forest
City Enterprises’ 15 retail and entertainment properties in New York City for $172.3 million in cash.
Cleveland-based Forest City, the parent company of Forest City Ratner, said it will retain a 51 percent
stake in the properties and will continue to manage and control leasing at the properties.”Today’s announcement represents both the significant value represented in our mature portfolio and
our continuing ability to create liquidity by monetizing select elements of that portfolio,” Forest City
President and CEO Charles Ratner said in a statement.
… [more]
Atlantic Yards developer Bruce Ratner is looking to tap into overseas financing for his $4.9 billion project with the help of a federal program that gives green cards to investors in exchange for development capital. According to the Wall Street journal, Ratner is planning a trip to China next month in the hopes of drumming up $250 million in funds through the so-called EB-5 program, which has helped developers who create jobs in struggling areas raise more than $1 billion since its inception in 1990 by enticing prospective financiers with employment-based visas. Following the Brooklyn Navy Yard’s success in seeking $125 million in financing through the program this spring, the city suggested that Forest City Ratner try it, too. The company has thousands of apartments, the new Nets basketball arena and office space planned for the Downtown Brooklyn complex and would be seeking potentially the largest amount ever borrowed through EB-5, pending approval by the federal government for its participation. Ratner broke ground on the $900 million Barclays Center this year and is looking to start constructing its first of 16 Atlantic Yards towers in 2011. [WSJ]
… [more]
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