MAYOR BLOOMBERG AND FOREST CITY RATNER COMPANIES BREAK GROUND ON B2 / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FIRST RESIDENTIAL (Brooklyn, NY) – December 18, 2012 – Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today BUILDING AT joined Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Forest City Enterprises BROOKLYN’S President and CEO David J. LaRue, Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC) ATLANTIC YARDS Chairman and CEO Bruce Ratner, the President of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York Gary LaBarbera, Skanska USA Building WORLD’S TALLEST AND president and CEO William Flemming, and Bertha Lewis, the former head of CITY’S FIRST MODULAR ACORN and The President of the Black Institute, to break ground on B2 (located HIGH RISE TO INCLUDE at 461 Dean Street), the 32-story residential tower that is part of the Atlantic Yards 50 PERCENT development in Brooklyn. B2 is expected to be available for occupancy in the AFFORDABLE UNITS summer of 2014. Designed by the award-winning architectural firm SHoP, the design architect for Barclays Center, the building will sit at the intersection of Dean Street and Flatbush Avenue and have 363 units, 50 percent of which (181) will be affordable to low, moderate and middle-income households. The remaining 50 percent (182) will be market rate. The affordable units will be evenly divided throughout the building and all will have the same quality appliances and access to the same public spaces, including a fitness center, bike storage, a resident lounge, game room, yoga/dance studio and roof terrace. Each unit will have a washer and dryer. B2 will have 150 studios (41%), 165 one-bedrooms (46%) and 48 two-bedrooms (13%). Twenty percent of the affordable units will be 2 Bedroom/2 Bathroom apartments. (A full fact sheet on B2 and Atlantic Yards is attached.) Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, “This new building will bring more affordable housing to one of the most exciting parts of Brooklyn. It will enrich a thriving community and ensure that living in this neighborhood is an option for a diverse group of New Yorkers. Its innovative construction will create jobs in Brooklyn and hopefully serve as a model that enables more affordable housing construction in the future.” Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz said, “This groundbreaking is the first down payment on the promise of affordable housing in the Atlantic Yards Project. It is only fitting that today’s ceremony comes during the holiday season, as the provision of affordable housing and the innovative modular construction process— which will assuredly be a major new job provider for Brooklynites who need work 1 most—are both wonderful gifts for Brooklyn. The B2 development will help ensure that Brooklyn continues to be a perfect home for those of all economic backgrounds, and preserves our unique cultural identity. Bravo to Bruce Ratner and his team at Forest City Ratner for their unwavering commitment to affordable housing in Brooklyn.” Empire State Development (ESD) President and CEO Kenneth Adams said, “Today’s groundbreaking marks another step in the State’s efforts to bring more jobs and affordable housing to downtown Brooklyn. Working with our local government and private sector partners, the revitalization and resurgence of Brooklyn is well on its way to becoming a reality.” Forest City Enterprises President and CEO David J. LaRue said, “On behalf of the entire Forest City organization nationwide, we are proud to join with Bruce and our New York team to celebrate this important occasion. This is truly a great day for Brooklyn, with new jobs and new housing, including a substantial amount of affordable housing. We extend our sincere thanks to all our partners and to the citizens of Brooklyn for their continued support.” Forest City Ratner Companies Chairman and CEO Bruce Ratner said, “Today is a significant milestone for Atlantic Yards. Our City is starved for affordable housing and we are proud that Atlantic Yards will provide housing to New Yorkers of all economic means, reflecting the diversity that defines Brooklyn and New York.” Skanska USA Building president and CEO William Flemming, the construction manager of B2, said, “Today marks a major milestone for the construction industry in New York City. For the first time, the traditional building approach has been substituted for a safer and more energy-efficient method – prefabricated modular construction. Skanska is proud to work with Forest City to develop the innovative techniques that we think will dramatically transform the way buildings are constructed in the City for years to come.” Gary LaBarbera, the President of The Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, said, "Today's groundbreaking marks the next phase of this project to bring housing, and particularly affordable housing, to Atlantic Yards. It will create union construction jobs with good wages and benefits that may have been at risk if not for the strong labor-management partnership that exists between Forest City Ratner and the Building and Construction Trades. Through an innovative approach to developing this project, a blueprint has been created to wed modular construction with traditional construction in a way that could improve our competitiveness and ability to create even more union construction jobs here in the local market and perhaps in other markets as well.” Bertha Lewis, the former CEO of ACORN, and the President of The Black Institute, said, “This is a promise made and a promise kept, the beginning of the most progressive affordable housing program in our city’s and country’s history. This building and the ones that follow will reflect the diversity of the city we love, a diversity of income, race, gender, and age. One building, one standard. While I’m thrilled and proud to join Forest City and others today, I’m saddened that Jon 2 Kest, my partner in housing and so much more, is not here with us. Jon had hoped to see this groundbreaking, to watch as families moved in and children grew. This building is in large part a result of his vision.” As part of its commitment to bringing the affordable units to this development, the City, through its Housing Development Corporation (HDC), funded the first mortgage with nearly $92 million raised through the sale of tax-exempt bonds as well as providing a low-interest subordinate loan of $11.6 million to the project. HDC President Marc Jahr said, “It is gratifying to see this development begin to take shape and the promise of affordable housing become a reality. We at HDC are proud of the role we have played in this financing. While it has taken some time to reach this juncture, I am confident that this new building will be a great addition to this growing neighborhood and that, most important, the affordable housing will benefit those who need it.” The exterior of the building will feature setbacks that have been articulated and integrated into the overall building’s massing. In addition to these volumetric breaks, a variety of materials, colors and fabrication techniques have been utilized to create an intricate play of light, pattern and texture over the façade. Deep metal frames cantilever beyond the glazed openings of the residential units, each being accented by a series of beveled and perforated metal panels. The inlaid metal panels are dressed with accents of color, heightening the play of light and shadow across their smooth and articulated surfaces. At grade, full story glazed storefronts will be accented by covered entrances to the three new towers extending a more scaled intimacy, typical of Brooklyn’s streetscape along all the elevations of the arena site. As announced in November, FCRC will utilize modular construction to develop B2. FCRC has partnered with Skanska USA, one of the world’s largest construction and development groups, to create a new company called FC + Skanska Modular, LLC (FCS Modular) that will build the modular components in a 100,000 square-foot space located in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Approximately 125 unionized workers will be employed at the fabrication facility beginning in late spring 2012, when modular production is fully under way. FCRC and Skanska will work with the labor unions and organizations like Non-Traditional Employment for Women, Helmets to Hardhats, Construction Skills 2000 and Brooklyn Workforce Innovation at the Navy Yard’s Employment Center to attract local workers and others to diversify the workforce in a continuation of goals established in the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement. Preference will be given to residence of Community Boards 2, 3, 6 and 8 and NYCHA. Approximately 60 percent of the building will be assembled in the Brooklyn Navy Yard facility and 40 percent of the work will be completed on the Dean Street property, including foundation work and the erection and assembling of the finished modular units. Given that much of the work will take place off-site, there will be significant reduction in truck traffic and other community impacts. It is also estimated that modular construction will result in 70 to 90 percent less waste than traditional construction. B2 is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification. 3 About FCRC FCRC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises, Inc., owns and operates 34 properties in the New York metropolitan area. Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $10.7 billion in total assets. The Company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate and land throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.forestcity.net. 4 .