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June 7, 2006
Forest City Ratner Hikes Investment In Midtown Commercial Office Market
NY Sun
By David Lombino
Forest City Ratner is making a bigger investment in the Midtown commercial office market by increasing its ownership stake in the 52-story New York Times headquarters, which is scheduled to open next year across from the Port Authority bus terminal.
The developer announced yesterday it would buy out the share of its investment partner, the Dutch bank ING, and continue to collaborate with the New York Times Company in the estimated $850 million project. Forest City will now be the sole owner of floors 29 through 52, about 700,000 square feet of space, and the Times will own floors two through 28.
A spokeswoman for Forest City, Jane Pook, said the developer had not anticipated buying out ING when they became partners in the development but is now “very bullish”on the Midtown commercial office market. The buyout was for an undisclosed amount of money.
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One commercial real estate analyst said the transaction may have nothing to do with the hot Midtown market, but could just be a routine buyout related to a number of internal factors.Earlier this year, Forest City unloaded its share of the 444-room Hilton Times Square nearby.
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In 2002,the state cited "urban blight" to condemn 10 properties and oust more than 50 small businesses to make way for the Times building. Citing increased tax revenues and the addition of jobs related to the project, the city gave the Times about $26 million in tax breaks, but it rejected an application by Forest City for more than $400 million in tax-exempt Liberty Bonds that were issued by the federal government after September 11, 2001, to help spur development.
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Forest City, one of the city’s busiest developers, is also seeking to use eminent domain in its proposed Atlantic Yards project in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn.
Also:
GlobeSt.com, FCRC Takes ING’s Interest in Times Site
Posted by lumi at June 7, 2006 8:02 AM