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September 10, 2008
FCE's Chuck Ratner: "this is a time to pull back" (but not AY?)
Atlantic Yards Report
Norman Oder reports on yesterday's investor conference call with Forest City Enterprises executives (transcript here):
Chuck Ratner, President and CEO of Forest City Enterprises (FCE), parent of Forest City Ratner, didn't tell investment analysts yesterday anything as arresting as his claim last March that "we still need more" subsidies or his March 2007 acknowledgement that "we are terrible" at predicting when projects "go from idea to reality."
Still, in yesterday's second quarter conference call, Ratner expressed considerable caution about the timing of projects in FCE's "shadow pipeline" (or development pipeline), which includes Atlantic Yards.
So, even though Ratner claimed that the developer was aiming to close the complicated Atlantic Yards bond transaction by the end of the year, his overall tone contrasted with FCR CEO Bruce Ratner’s claim last May that the project is on track, and that “[w]e anticipate finishing all of Atlantic Yards by 2018.” (After all, other signs—such as the absence of renderings of Phase 2—suggest such a finishing date is doubtful.)
...
Immediately after saying that "this is a time to pull back," Ratner discussed Atlantic Yards, without predicting a slowdown:Let me begin with an update on Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, our largest pipeline project. Overall, the project continues to move forward. During the first half, we received a favorable legal ruling when the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear an eminent domain appeal brought by project opponents.
Ratner continued with some dubious predictions of when legal cases would be resolved:
There are only two material lawsuits remaining, one concerning the project’s environmental impact statement, which will be heard and expected to be decided in the third quarter, and a state court action challenging eminent domain, which we expect to be resolved within the same time frame.
Is he saying the appeal of the case dismissing the environmental review will be decided by the end of October (the third quarter in FCE's fiscal year)? Given that oral argument is September 17, it's unlikely, not to mention the inevitable effort at an appeal, which would further delay resolution.
As for the eminent domain case, I reported that, while the defendants likely will try to get the case dismissed, it likely won’t be heard until January or later.
Chuck Ratner continued:
We’re working very closely with the city, the state, and the MTA. We continue to make progress on financing for the Barclays arena, including ongoing discussions with the rating agencies concerning the bonds. Our team is working very hard to achieve a closing on the transaction by the end of the year. There are many moving pieces on this project, as you can well imagine, and lots to do, but it is a major focus of our New York team and we’re confident that we’ll be able to make it happen.
Posted by lumi at September 10, 2008 5:12 AM