CLEVELAND and BROOKLYN,
Jan. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
Greenland USA and Forest City
Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA) today announced that they have
reached an agreement on the restructuring of Greenland
Forest City Partners, the joint venture that is developing Pacific
Park Brooklyn, a new 22-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the
Barclays Center. The restructuring takes Greenland USA's ownership interest in the venture from
70 percent to 95 percent going forward, and Forest City's interest
from 30 percent to 5 percent. Greenland Forest City Partners also
announced that design work will begin early this year on B4, the
next building at Pacific Park, which is expected to break ground in
2019.
![Forest City logo (PRNewsfoto/Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.) Forest City logo (PRNewsfoto/Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/493264/Forest_City_Realty_Trust_Inc_Logo.jpg)
"We saw in Pacific Park Brooklyn the opportunity to implement
our vision of creating a better, more accessible lifestyle and
drive continued innovation in the United
States. Now, through the jobs and the community benefit we
have created, and the great relationships we've established with
the city and state, we are delivering on that vision," said
Zhang Yuliang, president and chairman of Greenland Group.
"We are excited to continue working with Forest City and are proud
of the tremendous progress we've made together in bringing
affordable housing and residential space to the market quickly. In
2018, we remain dedicated to delivering these contributions to
New York's vibrant and diverse
communities. Pacific Park Brooklyn
brings opportunities to the whole community, and I look forward to
its progress and success."
"This is a win-win for both companies as well as for our
community partners and stakeholders," said David J. LaRue, President and Chief
Executive Officer of Forest City Realty Trust. "Forest City
continues to execute on our strategy of maintaining an overall
lower level of development activity, while remaining fully engaged
and accountable for current responsibilities. Most important, the
restructuring will keep the remaining entitled development on
track, with the joint venture solidly committed to the vision for
Pacific Park and the public benefits it has and will continue to
deliver, including significant affordable housing. As a company, we
continue to believe strongly in the New
York market. It is our largest core market and we've had a
significant presence and portfolio here for more than 30
years."
Hu Gang, president and
CEO, Greenland USA added, "We are
incredibly proud of the transformative projects we have built with
our partners at Forest City. Pacific Park is a true landmark
development in the heart of Brooklyn, New
York, and this restructuring allows Greenland to meet all of the goals it set
forth when we entered the New York
market and deliver a world class project that will make all of
Brooklyn proud."
Howard Zemsky, president
and CEO, Empire State Development Corporation said, "We look
forward to working closely with Greenland Forest City Partners on
the successful development of Pacific Park Brooklyn. More than 750
units have already been built and the Joint Venture remains
committed to its 2014 agreement with the State to deliver 2,250
units of affordable housing by 2025."
Greenland USA will take primary
responsibility for the remaining development work at Pacific Park.
The restructuring will not impact the three projects that Greenland
Forest City has completed to date: 38 Sixth Avenue, 535 Carlton and
550 Vanderbilt. The transaction is expected to close in
mid-2018.
Pacific Park Brooklyn is the
redevelopment of 22 acres in downtown Brooklyn that has already
delivered four residential buildings with nearly 800 units of
affordable housing, a state of the art sports and entertainment
arena – Barclays Center – a new subway entrance to the Atlantic
Terminal Transit Hub and ongoing transportation infrastructure
improvements. Design for the fifth building, designated B4, will
move forward at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 6th
Avenue. Design work will begin early this year with groundbreaking
planned for 2019.
When complete, Pacific Park is expected to deliver 6,430 units
of housing, including 2,250 units of affordable housing, as well as
office space, neighborhood retail, community facilities and 8 acres
of publicly accessible open space. Pacific Park also includes major
infrastructure improvements including a new storage and maintenance
facility the LIRR, new rail access to and from the Atlantic
Terminal station, and significant improvements to the
infrastructure network in the surrounding area.
For more information about Pacific Park Brooklyn, please visit
www.pacificparkbrooklyn.com
About Greenland USA
Greenland USA is a leading developer of residential
and commercial properties that transforms communities.
Greenland USA leverages its extensive international track
record, commitment to design innovation, quality and efficiency and
its local market expertise to develop landmark across the country.
It is currently developing the $1B+ property Metropolis in Los
Angeles, the $6B+ property Pacific Park Brooklyn in New York
and the 42-acre Oyster Point project in South San Francisco, CA. Established in 2013,
Greenland USA is a subsidiary of the Greenland Group,
which is publicly traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), and
ranked 277th among the Fortune Global 500 in 2017. More information
can be found at www.greenlandusa.com
About Forest City
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is a
NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.1 billion in consolidated assets. The Company
is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management
and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate
throughout the United States.
For more information, visit www.forestcity.net.
Safe Harbor Language
Statements made in this news
release that state Forest City's or its management's intentions,
hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are
forward-looking statements. Forest City's actual results could
differ materially from those expressed or implied in such
forward-looking statements due to various risks, uncertainties and
other factors. Risks and factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the uncertain outcome, impact,
effects and results of Forest City's Board of Directors' review of
operating, strategic, financial and structural alternatives, Forest
City's ability to carry out future transactions and strategic
investments, as well as the acquisition related costs,
unanticipated difficulties realizing benefits expected when
entering into a transaction, Forest City's ability to qualify or to
remain qualified as a REIT, its ability to satisfy REIT
distribution requirements, the impact of issuing equity, debt or
both, and selling assets to satisfy its future distributions
required as a REIT or to fund capital expenditures, future growth
and expansion initiatives, the impact of the amount and timing of
any future distributions, the impact from complying with REIT
qualification requirements limiting its flexibility or causing it
to forego otherwise attractive opportunities beyond rental real
estate operations, the impact of complying with the REIT
requirements related to hedging, its lack of experience operating
as a REIT, legislative, administrative, regulatory or other actions
affecting REITs, including positions taken by the Internal
Revenue Service, the possibility that Forest City's Board of
Directors will unilaterally revoke its REIT election, the
possibility that the anticipated benefits of qualifying as a REIT
will not be realized, or will not be realized within the expected
time period, the impact of current lending and capital market
conditions on its liquidity, its ability to finance or refinance
projects or repay its debt, the impact of the slow economic
recovery on the ownership, development and management of its
commercial real estate portfolio, general real estate investment
and development risks, litigation risks, vacancies in its
properties, risks associated with developing and managing
properties in partnership with others, competition, its ability to
renew leases or re-lease spaces as leases expire, illiquidity of
real estate investments, its ability to identify and transact on
chosen strategic alternatives for a portion of its retail
portfolio, bankruptcy or defaults of tenants, anchor store
consolidations or closings, the impact of terrorist acts and other
armed conflicts, its substantial debt leverage and the ability to
obtain and service debt, the impact of restrictions imposed by
Forest City's revolving credit facility, term loan and senior debt,
exposure to hedging agreements, the level and volatility of
interest rates, the continued availability of tax-exempt government
financing, its ability to receive payment on the notes receivable
issued by Onexim in connection with their purchase of our interests
in the Barclays Center and the Nets, the impact of credit rating
downgrades, effects of uninsured or underinsured losses, effects of
a downgrade or failure of its insurance carriers, environmental
liabilities, competing interests of its directors and executive
officers, the ability to recruit and retain key personnel, risks
associated with the sale of tax credits, downturns in the housing
market, the ability to maintain effective internal controls,
compliance with governmental regulations, increased legislative and
regulatory scrutiny of the financial services industry, changes in
federal, state or local tax laws and international trade
agreements, volatility in the market price of its publicly traded
securities, inflation risks, cybersecurity risks, cyber incidents,
shareholder activism efforts, conflicts of interest, risks related
to its organizational structure including operating through
its Operating Partnership and its UPREIT structure, as
well as other risks listed from time to time in the Forest
City's SEC filings, including but not limited to, Forest
City's annual and quarterly reports.
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SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.