By Anca Gagiuc, Associate Editor
Cleveland—Forest City Realty Trust announced the sale of its military housing business to Hunt Companies. The gross selling price was $208.8 million and is expected to generate net proceeds for the new owner of approximately $200 million after customary closing and other transaction costs.
“This important transaction aligns with our strategic focus on core retail, office and apartment assets in strong urban markets,” said David LaRue, Forest City president & CEO. “We anticipate using the proceeds primarily to further the significant progress we’ve made on deleveraging our balance sheet and improving our debt metrics. I thank all of our associates who built the military housing business into the strong asset it is today and who serve America’s military families with dedication and professionalism.”
The military installations include the Navy, Marines and Air Force, as well as minority equity interest in the real estate at each location. The housing business consists of approximately 14,500 housing units comprised of single-family homes, duplexes and triplexes bases in Hawaii, Tennessee, Illinois, Indiana, Washington, South Carolina and Mississippi, as well as at the Air Force Academy in Colorado. Following the transaction, Hunt is in process of extending offers to the majority of Forest City’s associates currently in the military housing business.
“We are pleased about the opportunity to combine our portfolios and military management expertise to expand our existing military housing portfolio” said Chris Hunt, CEO of Hunt Companies Inc. “The long duration of these contracts is expected to provide steady recurring revenues for over 40 years,” he said.
Image courtesy of Forest City Realty Trust
