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March 9, 2008
Forest City in the News
Ann Arbor Business Review, Cleveland-based developer Forest City considers buying Pfizer campus in Ann Arbor
Though eminent domain isn't on the table, property-rights activists and Forest City critics will understand the irony of a deal featuring these two prominent players:
Forest City Enterprises Inc., a Cleveland-based developer, is considering how Ann Arbor's Pfizer Inc. campus could fit into its portfolio, Business Review has confirmed.
This marks the first glimpse at a potential buyer for the 175-acre site headed for a pivotal repositioning.
Officials from Forest City [NYSE:FCEA] visited Ann Arbor in the fall to tour the Pfizer facility, said Michael Rosen, senior vice president for new business development of Forest City's Science and Technology Group.
...
Forest City has a history of acquiring ex-Pfizer properties at a discounted rate. In March 2005, the $10 billion company bought a 23.4-acre, 1 million-square-foot ex-Pfizer site in Skokie, Ill., for $43 million.
These figures do not include Atlantic Yards, which is not yet officially under construction:
Forest City had 19 projects costing $2.1 billion under construction or ready to be acquired at the end of the third quarter of 2007, according to SEC filings. Seven were expected to open in 2008.
Ann Arbor Business Review, Forest City's tours of Pfizer give glimpse into potential for Ann Arbor site
Forest City's tour of the Pfizer site must be pretty big news in Ann Arbor — a local business commentator sorts through the rumors to pick a favorite:
The link to [University of Michigan] should give the city and state hope that the economic engine surrounding the university will help drive what happens at Pfizer. Given what we see from U-M in the community - growth, vitality and relevance on a growing global scale - that is arguably more significant than Forest City's position, at least as the company presents it today.
Ann Arbor News, Real estate giant toured Pfizer site
The $10 billion publicly traded national real estate company that recently transformed a former Pfizer Inc. research site in Illinois into a multicompany biotechnology hub confirmed Thursday that it toured the soon-to-be-shuttered Pfizer property in Ann Arbor last year.
Forest City Enterprises Inc. is based in Cleveland and owns, develops, acquires and manages a large portfolio of commercial and residential real estate properties throughout the U.S., including two apartment complexes in Detroit.
However, Jeff Linton, Forest City's vice president of corporate communication, cautioned that Forest City's touring of the site does not necessarily indicate the company is interested in buying the massive 177 acre, 2 million-square-foot research and development complex.
The Journal News, Tech center renovation costs Yonkers taxpayers $4 million
Though the aritcle doesn't implicate Forest City Ratner in any wrongdoing, the shenanigans at the Ridge Hill Development Corporation are a text-book case of why these private development corporations, mandated by and acting on behalf of government, are frequently slush funds, accountable to no one.
This article may provide clues as to why the Feds have been issuing subpoenas for records pertaining to the approval of Forest City Ratner's Ridge Hill deal.
Posted by lumi at March 9, 2008 8:15 AM