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September 24, 2008
Forest City in the News
MarketWatch, Forest City Closes on $250 Million in Financing for Waterfront Project in Southwest D.C.
From a Forest City press release:
Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) announced today that it has closed on $250 million in construction financing for the initial phase of its Waterfront Station project in Southwest Washington, D.C.
Waterfront Station, on M Street SW at 4th Street, is a mixed-use redevelopment that will include office, residential and retail components. The site is adjacent to the Waterfront/Southeastern University MetroRail station.
The financing includes the project's first two buildings, totaling 628,000 square feet of office and ground-level retail space. The office component is fully leased to the District of Columbia for various governmental offices, and the retail component will include a Safeway supermarket, a CVS pharmacy, and other retail tenants.
NoLandGrab: Note that the office space is leased by the government. Fun fact: The City of NY is the largest tenant in MetroTech and the State of NY is the largest tenant in the Atlantic Center Mall.
The Eagle-Tribune in Massachusetts reported earlier this week that, "[Forest City] is a family-owned and family-run company that cooperates with local officials." It also works the other way around.
The Eagle-Tribune, Wall Street's woes are hitting home on Main Street.
Ironically it was the Eagle-Trib that reported on Monday that an official from the City of Haverhill "said he expects Lawrence officials will be happy with the way Forest City operates." Now that Forest City is putting the brakes on the Lawrence project, due to the credit crisis, Lawrence officials are probably not that happy.
Forest City Enterprises, a national development company based in Cleveland, Ohio, had planned to convert the Newark Paper property along the Merrimack in Lawrence into a 291-unit apartment complex. That plan is now on hold.
"The credit markets are not so wonderful," David Levey, executive vice president at Forest City Enterprises, told Kirk. "There is no financing for anything right now. It's very serious."
"I've never seen anything like this," added Levey, who has a 30-year career in commercial and residential development projects. "Three of the five biggest mortgage brokers in the nation — Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns — are no longer in business. These were very big players in the market."
The Journal News, State aid sought to preserve New Rochelle Armory
A group fighting to save an armory to be demolished for a Forest City project in New Rochelle is hoping the State of NY will step in to save the historic building.
A group of people fighting to save the city's armory from demolition has now asked the state Attorney General's Office to intervene.
"It's clear that this property has not been improved or maintained," said John Verni, an attorney representing the Save the Armory Committee. "The city has violated the deed and it should be declared that the property should go back to the state's control."
The city bought the armory from the state in 1997 for $1 on the condition that it remain park, recreation and municipal space. The armory is to be demolished as part of the developer Forest City Residential's plans to revitalize the Echo Bay waterfront with hundreds of rentals, condominiums and townhouses.
Posted by lumi at September 24, 2008 4:49 AM