Forest City Selected by U.S. Air Force for Military Family Housing at Four Southern Group Bases

CLEVELAND, Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City Enterprises, Inc., (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) today announced that its Forest City Military Communities subsidiary has been selected by the U.S. Air Force to privatize military family housing at four bases in the southeastern United States. The project will involve the management, new construction and/or demolition of Air Force family housing at the Southern Group bases, resulting in an end state of approximately 2,185 units.

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"The awarding of the Southern Group is an important milestone for our military housing business," said Charles A. Ratner, Forest City president and chief executive officer.  "It significantly expands our portfolio and broadens our involvement with Air Force family housing.  We're proud to have been chosen for this project and to have an even greater opportunity to improve the quality of life and sense of community for military families across the country.  I congratulate our entire military housing team, led by Tom Henneberry, on this important acknowledgement of their skill, capability, professionalism and hard work."

The four bases involved are Shaw AFB and Charleston AFB in South Carolina, Arnold AFB in Tennessee, and Keesler AFB in Mississippi.  As part of the project, the Air Force will lease a combined total of 846 acres of land and convey 2,387 existing housing units to Forest City.  Over the course of a three-year initial development period, the company expects to demolish 1,189 existing, inadequate housing units and construct 987 new housing units.  Following the development phase, Forest City will manage and maintain a combined total of 2,185 housing units at the bases over a 50-year contract period.  Closing on the project is expected to occur in early 2011.

With the awarding of the Southern Group, Forest City's military housing portfolio now includes military family housing projects in nine states for the Navy and Marines, as well as the Air Force. Current project sites include Navy Region Hawaii, Navy Northwest (Puget Sound region of Washington), Navy Great Lakes in Illinois and Indiana, Navy Mid-South in Tennessee and the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado. The Company's portfolio of military family homes, either existing, under design or construction, totals approximately 14,138 housing units with the addition of the Southern Group.

About Forest City

Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $11.5 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 http://www.forestcity.net.

Safe Harbor language

Statements made in this news release that state the Company's or its management's intentions, hopes, beliefs, expectations or predictions of the future are forward-looking statements. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements due to various risks, uncertainties and other factors. Risks and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the impact of current lending and capital market conditions on its liquidity, ability to finance or refinance projects and repay its debt, the impact of the current economic environment on its ownership, development and management of its real estate portfolio, general real estate investment and development risks, vacancies in its properties, further downturns in the housing market, competition, illiquidity of real estate investments, bankruptcy or defaults of tenants, anchor store consolidations or closings, international activities, the impact of terrorist acts, risks associated with an investment in a professional sports team, its substantial debt leverage and the ability to obtain and service debt, the impact of restrictions imposed by its credit facility and senior debt, exposure to hedging agreements, the level and volatility of interest rates, the continued availability of tax-exempt government financing, the impact of credit rating downgrades, effects of uninsured or underinsured losses, environmental liabilities, conflicts of interest, risks associated with the sale of tax credits, risks associated with developing and managing properties in partnership with others, the ability to maintain effective internal controls, compliance with governmental regulations, increased legislative and regulatory scrutiny of the financial services industry, volatility in the market price of its publicly traded securities, litigation risks, as well as other risks listed from time to time in the Company's SEC filings, including but not limited to, the Company's annual and quarterly reports.

SOURCE Forest City Enterprises, Inc.