CLEVELAND and BROOKLYN, Jan. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Greenland USA and Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA) today announced that they have reached an agreement on the restructuring of Greenland Forest City Partners, the joint venture that is developing Pacific Park Brooklyn, a new 22-acre mixed-use development adjacent to the Barclays Center. The restructuring takes Greenland USA's ownership interest in the venture from 70 percent to 95 percent going forward, and Forest City's interest from 30 percent to 5 percent. Greenland Forest City Partners also announced that design work will begin early this year on B4, the next building at Pacific Park, which is expected to break ground in 2019.

"We saw in Pacific Park Brooklyn the opportunity to implement our vision of creating a better, more accessible lifestyle and drive continued innovation in the United States. Now, through the jobs and the community benefit we have created, and the great relationships we've established with the city and state, we are delivering on that vision," said Zhang Yuliang, president and chairman of Greenland Group. "We are excited to continue working with Forest City and are proud of the tremendous progress we've made together in bringing affordable housing and residential space to the market quickly. In 2018, we remain dedicated to delivering these contributions to New York's vibrant and diverse communities. Pacific Park Brooklyn brings opportunities to the whole community, and I look forward to its progress and success."

"This is a win-win for both companies as well as for our community partners and stakeholders," said David J. LaRue, President and Chief Executive Officer of Forest City Realty Trust. "Forest City continues to execute on our strategy of maintaining an overall lower level of development activity, while remaining fully engaged and accountable for current responsibilities. Most important, the restructuring will keep the remaining entitled development on track, with the joint venture solidly committed to the vision for Pacific Park and the public benefits it has and will continue to deliver, including significant affordable housing. As a company, we continue to believe strongly in the New York market. It is our largest core market and we've had a significant presence and portfolio here for more than 30 years."

Hu Gang, president and CEO, Greenland USA added, "We are incredibly proud of the transformative projects we have built with our partners at Forest City. Pacific Park is a true landmark development in the heart of Brooklyn, New York, and this restructuring allows Greenland to meet all of the goals it set forth when we entered the New York market and deliver a world class project that will make all of Brooklyn proud."

Howard Zemsky, president and CEO, Empire State Development Corporation said, "We look forward to working closely with Greenland Forest City Partners on the successful development of Pacific Park Brooklyn. More than 750 units have already been built and the Joint Venture remains committed to its 2014 agreement with the State to deliver 2,250 units of affordable housing by 2025."

Greenland USA will take primary responsibility for the remaining development work at Pacific Park. The restructuring will not impact the three projects that Greenland Forest City has completed to date: 38 Sixth Avenue, 535 Carlton and 550 Vanderbilt. The transaction is expected to close in mid-2018.

Pacific Park Brooklyn is the redevelopment of 22 acres in downtown Brooklyn that has already delivered four residential buildings with nearly 800 units of affordable housing, a state of the art sports and entertainment arena – Barclays Center – a new subway entrance to the Atlantic Terminal Transit Hub and ongoing transportation infrastructure improvements. Design for the fifth building, designated B4, will move forward at the corner of Atlantic Avenue and 6th Avenue. Design work will begin early this year with groundbreaking planned for 2019.

When complete, Pacific Park is expected to deliver 6,430 units of housing, including 2,250 units of affordable housing, as well as office space, neighborhood retail, community facilities and 8 acres of publicly accessible open space. Pacific Park also includes major infrastructure improvements including a new storage and maintenance facility the LIRR, new rail access to and from the Atlantic Terminal station, and significant improvements to the infrastructure network in the surrounding area.

For more information about Pacific Park Brooklyn, please visit www.pacificparkbrooklyn.com

About Greenland USA Greenland USA is a leading developer of residential and commercial properties that transforms communities. Greenland USA leverages its extensive international track record, commitment to design innovation, quality and efficiency and its local market expertise to develop landmark across the country. It is currently developing the $1B+ property Metropolis in Los Angeles, the $6B+ property Pacific Park Brooklyn in New York and the 42-acre Oyster Point project in South San Francisco, CA. Established in 2013, Greenland USA is a subsidiary of the Greenland Group, which is publicly traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), and ranked 277th among the Fortune Global 500 in 2017. More information can be found at www.greenlandusa.com

About Forest CityForest 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 LanguageStatements made in this news release that state Forest City's or its management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. Forest City'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 Forest City's Board of Directors' review of operating, strategic, financial and structural alternatives, Forest City'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, Forest City'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 Forest City'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 Forest City'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 Forest City's SEC filings, including but not limited to, Forest City's annual and quarterly reports.

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SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.