CLEVELAND—The company founded in 1920 by the Ratner family as a lumber and hardware business is now a publicly traded REIT with $10 billion in consolidated assets. What is now known as Forest City Realty Trust Inc. took on its new name and status at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.

The change followed the completion of the merger of FCE Merger Sub Inc. with and into Forest City Enterprises Inc., with Forest City Enterprises surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Forest City Realty Trust. Forest City Enterprises has been converted into a Delaware limited partnership, which will serve as the operating partnership for the company.

The conversion comes nearly a year after what was then known as Forest City Enterprises announced that its board had approved a plan to pursue REIT status. "We believe the REIT structure supports our strategic direction as a company and enhances our ability to create long-term shareholder value," David LaRue, Forest City's president and CEO, said last January. "We will continue to leverage our core competencies in high-barrier markets, while we continue to reshape our business, improve our balance sheet, and transition to a REIT structure."

LaRue added at the time that the company's "undervalued operating portfolio is well positioned to benefit from strong growth in the key urban markets where we are focused." He said Forest City had "an identifiable pipeline of additional opportunities in those markets that we believe will fuel further incremental growth." Its current portfolio includes office, retail, multifamily and mixed-use properties in gateway markets across the US.

Forest City, by whatever name, has been publicly traded since 1960—coincidentally, the same year that President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation that created the REIT structure. As Forest City Realty Trust, it continues on the New York Stock Exchange trading under the FCEA and FCEB symbols, while Forest City Enterprise shareholders automatically became shareholders in the new entity.