Forest City Sells Most Of Its Stake In Pacific Park Development To Greenland USA

Forest City Sells Most Of Its Stake In Pacific Park Development To Greenland USA

PACIFIC PARK – Real estate investment firm Forest City announced on Monday that it has restructured Greenland Forest City Partners—the joint venture that is developing Pacific Park, the 22-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the Barclays Center formerly known as Atlantic Yards.

Barclays Center and 461 Dean (Photo: Pamela Wong/BKLYNER)

The restructuring increases Greenland USA‘s ownership interest in the project from 70-percent to 95-percent and decreases Forest City’s interest from 30-percent to 5-percent.

Greenland USA will take primary responsibility for the remaining development work at Pacific Park, according to the Forest City announcement.

Greenland USA is a subsidiary of the property development firm Greenland Group based in Shanghai, China. Greenland USA has been partners with Forest City Ratner on the $5 billion development of Pacific Park since 2013 when the firm purchased a 70-percent stake in the project, according to the New York Post. This deal did not include the the modular rental building located at 461 Dean Street or the Barclays Center. Forest City sold its share in the arena to Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Sports and Entertainment in 2015, the Post reports.

With the new deal giving Greenland USA majority control, the 13-year-old project will likely get a boost in speed and capital according to the Post. In October 2016 Forest City stopped all work on the development until further notice due to a $307.6 million accounting loss on the project, according to The Real Deal.

38 Sixth (Photo: Pamela Wong/BKLYNER)

To date, the Pacific Park project has completed the Barclays Center, the new entrance to the Atlantic Terminal station, and four residential buildings (461 Dean, 38 Sixth, 535 Carlton, and 550 Vanderbilt) providing approximately 800 affordable housing units. The overall project includes a total of 15 buildings offering 6,430 residential units and 2,250 affordable apartments to be completed by 2025. The project will also create office space, retail, community facilities, and eight-acres of open public space.

535 Carlton (Photo: Pamela Wong/BKLYNER)

The Pacific Park development also includes major infrastructure improvements including a new storage and maintenance facility for the Long Island Rail Road, new rail access to and from Atlantic Terminal, and improvements to the infrastructure network in the area, according to Forest City’s release.

Forest City also announced that design will begin early this year on Pacific Park’s fifth building located on the corner of Atlantic and 6th Avenues (just east of the Barclays Center), with a groundbreaking scheduled for 2019 and an estimated opening date of 2021. The building will reportedly rise 511 feet tall and contain a mix of condos and rental units, according to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park Report.

The news of restructuring the Pacific Park project comes as MaryAnne Gilmartin, Forest City’s longtime President and CEO of New York, announces her departure from the company to launch a new real estate development firm with the founders of L&L Holding Company. The new company, L&L MAG, will develop major ground-up projects across New York City, according to Real Estate Weekly.