CLEVELAND, April 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City
Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA) today announced the closing of the
sale of its interest in Westchester's Ridge
Hill, a 1.2 million-square-foot, open-air regional lifestyle
center in Yonkers, NY; The Shops
at Wiregrass, a 748,000-square-foot outdoor lifestyle village in
Wesley Chapel, FL; and Bass Pro
Shops Outdoor World at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.
The sale of the two lifestyle centers mark the fifth and sixth
mall divestitures, respectively, to close as part of Forest City's
previously announced 10-mall portfolio transaction with QIC. The
gross selling price for all the first tranche assets – six regional
malls, plus the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World – was $1.243 billion, or $667.5
million at Forest City's share, and includes assumption by
QIC of Forest City's share of debt on the assets of $335.0 million.
The remaining four malls in the portfolio are expected to be
transferred to QIC under a fixed-price option and to close as
Forest City secures replacement assets or other opportunities into
which it will redeploy its ownership stake in those malls. Gross
option pricing on the second tranche assets is $1.932 billion, or $881.2
million, at Forest City's share, and includes assumption by
QIC of Forest City's share of the debt on the four assets of
$321.0 million.
In addition to the completion of the first phase of mall
divestitures, the two companies completed the transition of
associates in retail management and leasing, tenant coordination
and property operations as well as associates in human resources,
accounting and information technology, from Forest City to QIC. QIC
has assumed management of all 10 of the malls, including the phase
two assets. All required consents for the phase two assets have
also been obtained.
"We've reached an important milestone in the continued execution
of this mutually beneficial portfolio-level transaction with our
partner, QIC," said David J. LaRue,
Forest City president and chief executive officer. "The
dispositions of our regional malls to QIC, and our specialty retail
centers to Madison International Realty, are central to Forest
City's strategic transformation as a focused, urban placemaker with
a strong balance sheet and an exceptional portfolio of multifamily,
office and mixed-use assets in great markets."
The final four malls in the portfolio, which are expected to
transact as Forest City secures replacement assets, are Victoria
Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, CA;
Galleria at Sunset in Henderson,
NV; Promenade Temecula in Temecula, CA; and Short Pump Town Centre in
Richmond, VA.
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 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.
On the Web:
www.forestcity.net
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SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.