Forest City Ratner looking to sell major stake in remainder of Atlantic Yards project

From this morning’s New York Times:

(D)eveloper Bruce C. Ratner, executive chairman of Forest City Ratner Companies, is looking for an investor to buy up to 80 percent of the rest of the $5 billion Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn, which is to eventually include 14 residential buildings and 6,000 apartments near Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.

Real estate analysts speculate that Mr. Ratner’s company could reap as much as $800 million from the sale of 50 to 80 percent of the remaining project.

The company said that it will remain in control and continue to develop the property, and that the proceeds would help get some buildings, long-delayed, off the ground.

“The money will be invested in the Atlantic Yards project,” said MaryAnne Gilmartin, chief executive of Forest City Ratner. “We’ll retain our position as the managing member. It’s exciting; it raises the possibility that we’ll be able to accelerate vertical development there.”

Barclays Center is the only part of the project completed. Work is currently being done to complete the first residential tower, which was delayed by what Nets CEO Brett Yormark classified as a once-in-a-generation credit crunch.

New York Times — To Enhance Atlantic Yards, a Plan to Sell a Big Part of It