Brookfield Asset Management is expected to close on its $6.8 billion purchase of Forest City Realty Trust by the end of this week, making the company the largest commercial property owner in New York City.
Ric Clark, senior managing partner of Brookfield Asset Management and chairman of Brookfield Property Group, said the deal will make the company the top commercial landlord in the city, with 26.1 million square feet under management. Clark touted the deal at the Real Estate Board of New York’s annual commercial holiday luncheon at the Edison Ballroom.
Brookfield, citing data from Crain’s, said that as of October 2018, the next biggest commercial landlords were RXR Realty at 24.6 million square feet under management, SL Green Realty at 23.9 million square feet, Vornado Realty Trust at 23.5 million square feet and Tishman Speyer at 18.3 million square feet.
The closing comes just one month after shareholders voted in favor of the deal. Votes representing nearly 183 million shares of common stock were cast in favor of the acquisition. Roughly 34 million shares were against the deal, while 838,747 abstained, according to Brookfield representatives. Albert Ratner, former CEO of Forest City, had filed a lawsuit just before the the vote, alleging that the deal gave away $5.8 billion in shareholder value. A federal judge declined to halt the sale.
According to Clark, the Forest City acquisition adds 5 million square feet of office space to Brookfield’s portfolio and 2,500 apartments. He said Brookfield’s New York City assets total $32 billion.