KING OF THE RETAIL DEALS
BY PETER SLATIN
Ask megadeveloper Bruce Ratner why questions of political donations and connections dog virtually every development his hugely successful Forest City Ratner Companies builds - or even vies for - and he snaps, "It's just silly."
The 52-year-old developer, lawyer and former commissioner of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs angrily dismisses the persistent notion that his heavy contributions at the city, state and federal level get Forest City favored treatment - and even allow him to make special deals.
Ratner, who is on the short list of developers interested in the Coliseum, responds, "On the contrary, I would make an argument that it puts us in the spotlight and makes things more difficult.
"Especially with a mayor who pays attention to such things."
His most closely watched development encompasses much of the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues, where he is building a large retail and entertainment complex anchored by a 25-screen AMC movie theater, which will be the city's largest.
To date, his most visible projects are in downtown Brooklyn, including the gigantic MetroTech Center, an urban office campus, and Atlantic Center, a 400,000-square-foot retail project.
Speculation about Ratner's ties to City Hall and to Albany persists, although it comes almost entirely from competing sources who ask not to be named.
Developers consistently allege that Ratner works behind the scenes to set up "sole-source" deals to develop public land that he has his eye on.
Publicly owned sites he was chosen to develop this year include Harlem Center on West 125th Street and Battery Park City. He was chosen to develop, but eventually walked away from, the Passenger Ship Terminal piers on the West Side.
In Brooklyn, he is the de facto developer for the Atlantic Terminal and Steeplechase sites in Brooklyn. He's high up on the list to build a large project atop the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
All told, Forest City says that it has built some 5 million square feet of commercial and retail space worth $1.3 billion, and has another 1.7 million feet worth $350 million in the pipeline.
Also anticipated is construction of 900 hotel rooms with a value of $200 million.
In other words, Ratner has been the city's most prolific developer over the past decade. But has he accomplished that through back-room politicking, or even by buying his way to the top? Or has he made his mark by taking risks that other, more established builders have shied away from?
The answer may indeed be both. Ratner certainly likes to give to politicians. According to published reports, Ratner himself, and companies tied to him, have been cited by the Campaign Finance Board for making campaign contributions to Mayor Giuliani that exceed the legal limit by more than $20,000.
Excessive donations were also made to the Dinkins campaign in 1992. And by mid-year, he and his estranged wife had donated nearly $30,000 to organizations linked to Gov. Pataki's re-election campaign.
The CFB also cited other developers, such as the Milsteins, for excessive contributions, and conceded that regulations defining the limits of these donations are murky.
"Basically, I believe in the people I support," Ratner responds. "The real issue is that we saw ^these development opportunities_ before anybody else."
Ratner has a point. His supporters note that he has focused almost exclusively on deals and on districts that his rivals dismissed as not worth the headaches. And a quick survey of his projects shows that he has indeed often taken a dive into rough waters ahead of the calming effect of a rising market.
"We generally don't apply for things where there's many, many people" vying for the job, Ratner declares. "What we do is very difficult and complex, and we're among the more competent people doing it."
"He sticks his neck out," maintains one supporter, pointing out that when the city began looking for people interested in building MetroTech in the mid-1980s, Ratner was really the only taker. Now, like many other neighborhoods where he has tested the waters, Ratner notes, the area is "recognized by other developers as a place where there's real opportunity."
The same is true elsewhere. At the Coney Island Steeplechase site, where Ratner wants to build a giant retail complex along with a sports center he has promised to help finance for the Brooklyn Sports Foundation, the site has lain fallow for years.
The foundation - at the suggestion of New York State - approached Ratner to do a feasibility study, sources say. But Ratner instead said he wanted to develop the site, and now appears close to getting the nod to do so.
At the Atlantic Terminal site, the Long Island Railroad yards across from his Atlantic Center project, Ratner bought the designation that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had given to Rose Associates in the mid-80s.
No one else has apparently asked for them, and the MTA and the city seem content with Ratner as the most likely developer of what will be yet another retail complex.
In Harlem, only four development teams responded to New York State's call on a site dubbed Harlem Center, on West 125th Street, just down the street from a planned private retail development complex, Harlem USA.
Ratner joined forces with locally strong Abyssinian Development Corp., and the team easily won designation from the Empire State Development Corp. headed by Charles Gargano. At that site, Ratner and Abyssinian will likely build a movie theater, to compete with Harlem USA's Cineplex Odeon, and some additional retail businesses.
The full-fledged Sears department store that many Ratner watchers - critics and supporters alike - have been expecting will not be part of that site, sources tell The Post.
"It's not a big enough market for Sears," insists one source familiar with the negotiations, adding that the retail giant might consider a small satellite for the location.
Sears will be the linchpin of Ratner's proposal for the Coliseum. While other developers bandied about the high-toned Sotheby's auction house as their prime retail tenant, Ratner proudly flaunted the comparatively downscale Sears name, prompting a mix of ridicule and incredulity from those who could not envision such a mass-market, down-home department store serving the burgeoning West Side.
But Ratner has stuck by his choice.
"Sears has changed," he told The Post earlier this year. "You wouldn't recognize it." Recently, he also won over the Westin hotel chain to his Coliseum plan - although observers say such a victory means little, since the hotelier will likely seek an alliance with whoever is eventually selected.
Ratner's background as a lawyer and political appointee in the Consumer Affairs Dept. under mayors John Lindsay and Ed Koch (for whom he served as consumer affairs commissioner) no doubt have stood him in good stead in his 15-year development career.
It certainly gave him a window into a city he says is "extremely under-retailed," a fact, he emphasizes, "that is beyond true.
"What's really happening," says Ratner, "is a real acceptance by the consumer of the importance of superstore shopping."
Consumer interest is matched by retailer excitement from national chains. As a result, Forest City Ratner now has a program that should see between $150 million and $200 million of retail development in the boroughs over the next several years, predicts Ratner.
"We have the sites and the users identified," he adds. "Leasing is not a problem. Everybody wants to be here now."