CLEVELAND, Nov. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City Realty
Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA) today announced that legislation clearing
the way for work to begin on the first phase of its 28-acre Pier 70
mixed-use project in San
Francisco, was signed into law by San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee, capping a decade of extensive
planning, community outreach, civic engagement and
collaboration.
![Forest City logo (PRNewsfoto/Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.) Forest City logo (PRNewsfoto/Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.)](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/606569/ForestCity_Logo_notag300_ID_7cc7c4de16f1.jpg)
Part of a larger historic shipyard on the city's Central
Waterfront and adjacent to the Dogpatch neighborhood, the project
will include both new construction and adaptive reuse of historic
structures. At full buildout, it will include between 1,100 and
2,150 residential units (of which 30 percent will be affordable),
up to 1.75 million square feet of commercial space, and 450,000
square feet of retail, arts and light industrial/maker space, as
well as parks, transportation and infrastructure improvements and
significant public benefits. The project will open access to a part
of San Francisco's waterfront that
has been underutilized and largely inaccessible for more than a
century.
"We're thrilled to have reached this milestone and excited to
begin work on this great project," said David J. LaRue, Forest City president and chief
executive officer. "We're grateful for the support of Mayor Lee,
the Board of Supervisors, the Port of San
Francisco, the Office of Economic and Workforce Development,
our other community partners and the people of San Francisco for making this important
project possible. We are confident that we can leverage Forest
City's unique place-making skills, honed at projects such as
Stapleton in Denver, The Yards in
Washington, D.C., and University
Park at MIT in Cambridge, among others, to deliver "the power
of place" for the benefit of the citizens of this great city."
"Extensive collaboration with the community and city over many
years has resulted in an exceptional project that addresses issues
important to the neighborhood and city," said Kevin Ratner, president of Forest City West. "We
are adding much-needed housing, generating thousands of jobs,
creating new parks, and providing space to sustain arts, culture
and local manufacturing in San
Francisco. Because of our community process, the development
will meld the history, culture and community of Dogpatch to create
a great new waterfront neighborhood."
As part of a public-private partnership, Forest City and its
civic partners have undertaken extensive engagement and outreach
efforts, hosting workshops, open houses, markets, tours,
presentations and family events that have engaged an estimated
75,000 people to date. Forest City expects to begin obtaining
permits for the first phase of construction this month. The full
buildout of the project is anticipated to take 10 to 15 years.
Forest City has had a presence in San
Francisco for three decades, and developed, owns and manages
numerous properties in the Bay area, including the Presidio
Landmark, Bayside Village, 2175
Market Street, and The Uptown apartment communities, and
redeveloped and co-owns the Westfield San Francisco Centre retail
mall.
About Forest City
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is a
NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.1 billion in consolidated assets. The Company
is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management
and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate
throughout the United States. For more information, visit
www.forestcity.net.
Safe Harbor Language
Statements made in this news
release that state the company's or management's intentions, hopes,
beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are
forward-looking statements. The company's actual results could
differ materially from those expressed or implied in such
forward-looking statements due to various risks, uncertainties and
other factors. Risks and factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, the uncertain outcome, impact,
effects and results of the company's Board of Directors' review of
operating, strategic, financial and structural alternatives, the
company's ability to carry out future transactions and strategic
investments, as well as the acquisition related costs,
unanticipated difficulties realizing benefits expected when
entering into a transaction, the company's ability to qualify or to
remain qualified as a REIT, its ability to satisfy REIT
distribution requirements, the impact of issuing equity, debt or
both, and selling assets to satisfy its future distributions
required as a REIT or to fund capital expenditures, future growth
and expansion initiatives, the impact of the amount and timing of
any future distributions, the impact from complying with REIT
qualification requirements limiting its flexibility or causing it
to forego otherwise attractive opportunities beyond rental real
estate operations, the impact of complying with the REIT
requirements related to hedging, its lack of experience operating
as a REIT, legislative, administrative, regulatory or other actions
affecting REITs, including positions taken by the Internal Revenue
Service, the possibility that the company's Board of Directors will
unilaterally revoke its REIT election, the possibility that the
anticipated benefits of qualifying as a REIT will not be realized,
or will not be realized within the expected time period, the impact
of current lending and capital market conditions on its liquidity,
its ability to finance or refinance projects or repay its debt, the
impact of the slow economic recovery on the ownership, development
and management of its commercial real estate portfolio, general
real estate investment and development risks, litigation risks,
vacancies in its properties, risks associated with developing and
managing properties in partnership with others, competition, its
ability to renew leases or re-lease spaces as leases expire,
illiquidity of real estate investments, its ability to identify and
transact on chosen strategic alternatives for a portion of its
retail portfolio, bankruptcy or defaults of tenants, anchor store
consolidations or closings, the impact of terrorist acts and other
armed conflicts, its substantial debt leverage and the ability to
obtain and service debt, the impact of restrictions imposed by the
company's revolving credit facility, term loan and senior debt,
exposure to hedging agreements, the level and volatility of
interest rates, the continued availability of tax-exempt government
financing, its ability to receive payment on the notes receivable
issued by Onexim in connection with their purchase of our interests
in the Barclays Center and the Nets, the impact of credit rating
downgrades, effects of uninsured or underinsured losses, effects of
a downgrade or failure of its insurance carriers, environmental
liabilities, competing interests of its directors and executive
officers, the ability to recruit and retain key personnel, risks
associated with the sale of tax credits, downturns in the housing
market, the ability to maintain effective internal controls,
compliance with governmental regulations, increased legislative and
regulatory scrutiny of the financial services industry, changes in
federal, state or local tax laws and international trade
agreements, volatility in the market price of its publicly traded
securities, inflation risks, cybersecurity risks, cyber incidents,
shareholder activism efforts, conflicts of interest, risks related
to its organizational structure including operating through its
Operating Partnership and its UPREIT structure, as well as other
risks listed from time to time in the company's SEC filings,
including but not limited to, the company's annual and quarterly
reports.
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SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.