Coming off a year in which it opened an expansion of San Francisco Centre (a joint venture with Westfield Group), the Promenade at Bolingbrook (IL) Town Center and the main street portion of its Shops at Northfield in Denver, Forest City will open $900 million in new projects in all sectors this year, and will begin several billion dollars in new construction.
"Our retail business is in very strong condition," said Charles A. Ratner, president and CEO.
San Francisco Centre and Bolingbrook both have been very successful, he said. On the other hand, "Northfield (part of the Stapleton master-planned community) is not doing as well as we hoped. But in the long run, we feel it will be fine," Ratner added.
New projects include Ridge Hill in Yonkers, N.Y., the Yards in Washington, D.C., and Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, NY. The recent ICSC Spring Convention in Las Vegas, Ratner said, saw "a tremendous appetite by tenants for new space."
But there are economic concerns, according to co-chairman and treasurer Samuel H. Miller. In August, three million adjustable-rate mortgages will come due. As those consumers' monthly payments increase, "the ramifications are many," he said.
"There will be a great effect on the mentality of consumers, if someone has a neighbor who's about to lose their house," he said.
Secondary housing-related expenditures such as home improvements also will be affected. Inflation on basic such as food and gasoline also will hurt consumers who "can't have it all," Miller added.
Demographics are the key, Ratner said, to the company's expansion. The company expanded nationwide to accommodate population shifts, and expects that to continue.
"The next 30 years in this country will see another 82 million people in the United States," Ratner observed. "Four million will be in the Northeast, 6 million in the Midwest. The balance will be in the South and West."
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