Pact Expected to Jump-Start Idled Projects

NEW YORK CITY-Forest City Ratner Cos.’ Beekman Tower and 11 other stalled development projects will be moving forward under an agreement between construction unions and management. The Economic Recovery Project Labor Agreement between the Building and Construction Trades Council and the Building Trades Employers’ Assoc., announced Friday, is intended to reduce construction costs by an average of 16% to 21% on these projects, according to a joint statement from the two organizations. The PLA entails work rule changes accepted by labor and concessions accepted by contractors.

Work on the Beekman Tower, where construction had been stalled for the past two months with half of its planned 76-stories completed, will now proceed, according to FCRC. Bruce Ratner, chairman and CEO of FCRC, who reportedly threatened to cap the Lower Manhattan residential tower at 40 stories when costs became an issue, says in a statement that “after a thorough review, Forest City’s decision to complete the Beekman project as it was designed by Frank Gehry is the result of achieving our economic goals.”

The company credits the PLA, along with reductions in the cost of materials, in resuming construction on the Downtown property, which is slated for occupancy in summer 2010. It will include 100,000-square-foot public school and a 21,000-square-foot ambulatory care center for neighboring New York Downtown Hospital.