Forest City Sells Interest in San Francisco's Metreon to Unit of Westfield

CLEVELAND, July 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Forest City Enterprises, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) today announced that a subsidiary has closed the sale of its 50 percent interest in Metreon, a 279,000-square-foot mixed-use project in downtown San Francisco, to a U.S. unit of Westfield Group (ASX: WDC).  The two companies have had equal interests in Metreon since acquiring it in 2006, and both continue to own their interests in the nearby Westfield San Francisco Centre/Emporium mixed-use property.  

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The sale price was approximately $19 million, of which Forest City expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $18 million.

"Metreon continues to be a great redevelopment property with significant potential," said Charles Ratner, Forest City president and chief executive officer.  "Consistent with our strategy of reducing overall development activity, we made the decision, in consultation with Westfield, to focus on other West Coast assets and opportunities.  We continue to have a significant presence in, and commitment to Northern California, and the San Francisco Bay area in particular."  

Among other projects in the San Francisco area, Forest City is the developer of Presidio Landmark, a recently completed, 161-unit, adaptive-reuse apartment community within the Presidio National Park, and Uptown Apartments, a 665-unit, LEED-certified apartment community in center city Oakland.  Forest City is also working in an advisory capacity with Hearst Corporation to obtain entitlements necessary for the "5M" project, the redevelopment of the former Chronicle newspaper property at 5th and Mission in downtown San Francisco into an innovation campus.

About Forest City

Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $11.5 billion in total assets. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States. For more information, visit http://www.forestcity.net/.

SOURCE Forest City Enterprises, Inc.