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November 6, 2008
Forest City Enterprises announces layoffs, won't say how many
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
By Shaheen Samavati
Due to the one-two punch of sagging demand and scarce credit, Atlantic Yards developer Forest City Enterprises is laying some employees off this week.
Spokesman Jeff Linton wouldn't say how many people are affected, but he said it's a small percentage of the company's work force of 3,200. Of those, about 800 work at the company's headquarters in downtown Cleveland.
The company also has offices across the country.
...
Forest City stock has taken a beating recently, with shares trading at about $11, down from about $50 at this time last year. It closed at $11.07 on Wednesday, down $1.08, or 8.9 percent."It isn't prudent to develop real estate without tenant demand or consumer demand," Linton said. "If that's your starting point, that's one strike against launching a new project. It's also increasingly difficult to finance that development anyway, so you've got two strikes against you."
He said the company remains committed to all projects already under way. "It's those far-future things that we've made the determinations that we need to slow down," he said.
Posted by lumi at November 6, 2008 5:40 AM