From Bisnow, quoting (in paraphrase) Forest City Ratner CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin:
Forest City itself tried to innovate, she said, with its modular construction for 461 Dean St. Committed to using union labor and hindered by a partner locking it out of the factory where the units were assembled, Forest City was still able to assemble the world’s tallest modular building, although for much more money and time than expected.
Still, MaryAnne treats the project as a victory, believing she and Forest City were able to get the ball rolling on modular construction so it can be used by others and speed up the construction process considerably.
Oh really? Didn't Scopia Capital call B2 (ak 461 Dean) a "value destructive" transaction?
Wasn't the project a financial debacle?
Didn't Forest City plan to build all the towers in Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park using modular technology?
Didn't Forest City aim to "establish and grow a viable, cost competitive modular factory business"?
Didn't Forest City aim to "establish and grow a viable, cost competitive modular factory business"?
And didn't Forest City sell the modular business for a sum (and thus loss) it was unwilling to disclose?
C'mon, Forest City is not some government-funded or industry-supported general research lab. They aimed to innovate and drive profits, and for that generated a lot of anticipation. It didn't work out for them.
Post-truth and real estate
Gilmartin's statement was about as credible as that by Chuck Ratner, then CEO of parent Forest City Enterprises, claiming that his 2007 prediction of a 15-year project buildout really meant the time from conception to completion. We know how that worked out.
Gilmartin's statement was about as credible as that by Chuck Ratner, then CEO of parent Forest City Enterprises, claiming that his 2007 prediction of a 15-year project buildout really meant the time from conception to completion. We know how that worked out.
This recalled for me an 8/10/16 Washington Post article about an even more prominent real-estate figure, now the president-elect:
That deposition — 170 transcribed pages — offers extraordinary insights into [Donald] Trump’s relationship with the truth. Trump’s falsehoods were unstrategic — needless, highly specific, easy to disprove. When caught, Trump sometimes blamed others for the error or explained that the untrue thing really was true, in his mind, because he saw the situation more positively than others did.Gilmartin and colleagues also see the situation more positively. That doesn't make it true.
“Have you ever lied in public statements about your properties?” the lawyer asked.
“I try and be truthful,” Trump said. “I’m no different from a politician running for office. You always want to put the best foot forward.”
Remember when Gilmartin claimed that Forest City Ratner had "cracked the code" on large-scale modular construction?
ReplyDeleteTurns out the code cracked them.