Forest City joint venture closes sale of Queens entertainment property to Kaufman Astoria Studios

CLEVELAND, June 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) and Kaufman Astoria Studios today announced the completion of the sale of Steinway Street Theaters, known locally as UA Kaufman Astoria Cinemas, an 84,000-square-foot movie theater complex in Astoria, Queens.  An affiliate of Kaufman Astoria Studios acquired the property from Forest City and its joint venture partner, Madison International Realty, LLC, for a total purchase price of $45 million. 

The selling price represents a cap rate in the mid-5 percent range, based on the property's average 2015 and projected 2016 net operating income. After debt repayment and closing costs, the transaction generated total net proceeds of approximately $28 million, or $14.3 million at Forest City's share. 

"I congratulate our team and our joint venture partner on executing this transaction, which reflects our ability to selectively harvest value from our portfolio, and use proceeds to continue to deleverage and reinvest in core products and markets," said David J. LaRue, Forest City president and chief executive officer.

"We are thrilled to welcome the theatre to the Kaufman Astoria Studios family of properties and very excited about the continuing growth and future of the Kaufman Arts District," said Hal G. Rosenbluth, president and CEO of Kaufman Astoria Studios.

The property, which opened in 1999, was originally developed by Forest City on land it acquired from Kaufman Astoria Studios.  With the sale, the Forest City/Madison International joint venture continues to own 14 mature specialty retail and entertainment properties in the New York City metropolitan area.

About Forest City
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.8 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.

About Kaufman Astoria Studios
Built in 1920, Kaufman Astoria Studios was the original home of Paramount Pictures, with over 100 silent films made on its sound stages.  Today, top Hollywood film, television, and digital on-demand series are made at the studio, including the films Money Monster, How to Be Single and Birdman, the Netflix hit Orange is the New Black, AMC's Feed the Beast, NBC's Shades of Blue, Showtime's The Affair, and Sesame Street, which has filmed at Kaufman Astoria Studios since 1992.  Other recent TV and film productions include Nurse Jackie, Deliver Us From Evil, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Men in Black 3, and The Bourne Ultimatum.

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20080515/FRSTCTYLOGO

SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.forestcity.net