Standard & Poor's yesterday downgraded the credit rating of mega-developer Forest City Enterprises, the parent company of Forest City Ratner, the developer of the planned Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn. The downgrade came as the credit markets have made the financing of new development near impossible, and Forest City, based in Cleveland and with projects in numerous regions, is no exception.
Among the agency's worries was Forest City Ratner's more-than $4 billion signature project, a Frank Gehry-designed complex that includes a new basketball arena for the Nets, more than 6,000 units of housing and a commercial tower. Forst City has spent about two years fending off a string of lawsuits, while watching the financial markets stagnate. read more »
