The story
In 1920, Forest City was founded as a family-owned lumber and household hardware business by siblings Charles, Leonard, Max and Fannye Ratner, immigrants from Poland. Beginning in the 1930s, the company invested in residential garages, apartments, retail strip centers. During World War II, the company manufactured and prefabricated governmental housing.
In 1960, Forest City became a publicly traded company and rebranded itself as Forest City Enterprises.
In 1987, the company sold its retail lumber business to Handy Andy Home Improvement Center.
In 2011, the company sold a 49% stake in a retail portfolio in New York for $172.3 million. In 2013, the company acquired a 100% interest in The Mall at Robinson near Pittsburgh.
In January 2016, for tax purposes, the company converted into a real estate investment trust and was renamed Forest City Realty Trust. In February 2016, the company sold its stake in the Brooklyn Nets and the Barclays Center to Mikhail Prokhorov. It also sold its military housing division to Hunt Companies for $208.8 million,
In June 2017, Forest City shareholders voted to eliminate the dual share structure that had enabled the founding Ratner family to control the company.
That month, the City of New York filed a lawsuit against the company in conjunction with the rent due pursuant to a ground lease.
In October 2017, the company sold its interests in 10 malls to Queensland Investment Corporation for $1.55 billion.
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In December 2018, the company was acquired by Brookfield Asset Management.
From Wikipedia’s article on Forest City Realty Trust, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.7