Goodwin Procter advised Forest City Enterprises, Inc. in its recently announced joint venture with Greenland Group Co. to develop Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, N.Y. According to the agreement, Forest City will sell a 70 percent stake in the project to Greenland and the companies will co-develop the 22-acre project, sharing costs in proportion to their respective ownership interests. The development will include infrastructure, a permanent MTA rail yard, a platform above the rail yard and future residential units. The project is currently the largest, single-site commercial real estate development project in the United States, and is one of the largest-ever commercial development projects backed by a Chinese company in the country.
Forest City Enterprises (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) is a national real estate company with $9.3 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. Forest City is based in Cleveland, Ohio.
Greenland Group, based in Shanghai, has a diverse industrial structure with a focus on energy, finance and real estate. The company was established in 1992 and has construction projects in more than 70 cities and provinces in China as well as in Korea, Australia and the United States, among others.
The Goodwin team advising Forest City was led by partners Michael Glazer and Diane McCabe and associates Mary McQuinn and Reade Everett.
More information about the joint venture and development plans can be found in the press release. The agreement attracted significant media attention including articles in The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg.