Forest City: new multifamily development fund's first investment will be B2, first Atlantic Yards modular tower

There was one new tidbit of Atlantic Yards news in a quarterly conference call Forest City Enterprises executives held yesterday with investment analysts: a new source of funding for the first Atlantic Yards tower.

According to the 12/6/12 earnings press release, CEO David LaRue said:

As we first announced at our October 22 Investor Day at Barclays Center, we are in the process of finalizing a partnership with a large institutional investor to create a $400 million multifamily development fund to invest in five of our core markets. The fund will target activation of our existing entitlement as well as select new opportunities. We expect to complete the partnership agreement before the end of the year and to provide investors with more detail at that time.

Yesterday he added this detail: "We anticipate that B2, our first apartment building at Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn, will be the first asset that the fund will invest in."

Other observations

CFO Bob O'Brien said the arena has hosted more than 40 events, and has received over 400,000 visitors. 

The 2015 arrival of the hockey Islanders, with an anticipated 40+ games, will "help us achieve our $70 million annualized [revenue] target," he said.

(Update: per the unofficial transcript, he was pointing to the year 2016: "We expect the addition of the Islanders to help us achieve our $70 million annualized target from the arena at stabilization in 2016.")

Asked about the ownership interest on the arena, O'Brien said "our legal interest is about 34%... together with the original partners to buy the Nets, we own 55% of the arena."

To develop the arena, Forest City advanced capital. "That capital has a preference, both return on and of that capital before the equity gets a return," he said. It will take "a minimum of at least five, more likely seven-plus years, we, Forest City, will get a return on and of that advance... we will be benefiting from 55% of the economics coming out of the Barclays Center."