Forest City Revamps Structure

CLEVELAND—Concurrent with its planned conversion to a REIT this coming January, Forest City Enterprises Inc. plans to move to a new organizational structure. The idea is to better align with its strategies and signature strength in urban, mixed-use real estate, while also increasing efficiency and improving operating margins, the Cleveland-based owner/developer said Thursday.

The past several years have seen Forest City undergoing a transformation via “focusing on core products and strong urban markets, improving our balance sheet and debt metrics, driving operational excellence and, most recently, committing to convert to a real estate investment trust,” says David LaRue, the company’s president and CEO. “Our new structure continues that transformation by better aligning the way we are organized with our strategies and strengths, while retaining the strong brands and local presence we have built in our core markets.”