Forest City Ratner Cos. has announced the closing of $680 million in construction financing for its mixed-use Beekman development in lower Manhattan. The financing is the largest construction loan in Forest City Enterprises’ history. It is Frank Gehry’s first residential building in New York. The four lead banks in the financing are Eurohypo AG, Nord/LB, ING Real Estate Finance and Fifth Third Bank. RBS Citizens, N.A. is providing the credit enhancement for the bond issue. The mezzanine loan provider for the project is the National Electrical Benefit Fund, which is also Forest City Ratner’s equity partner in the Beekman project. Major construction on the Beekman project, which will serve as a catalyst in the rejuvenation of its entire lower Manhattan neighborhood, is slated to start next week. Beekman will be a 76-story tower with approximately 1.1 million square feet, including 904 market-rate apartments, a public school for 630 students, a 21,000-square-foot ambulatory care center for New York Downtown Hospital, 1,300 square feet of ground-floor retail space, and below-grade parking for 175 cars.







