Company Press Release
June 8, 2000
NEW YORK, NY
Hilton Times Square and Embassy Suites® at Battery Park City
Co-owned by Forest City Ratner Companies and
Hilton Hotels Corporation;
Hotels Feature Larry Forgione Gourmet Restaurants and Dazzling New
Commissions by Contemporary Artists
Adding 907 rooms to the hotel capacity of New York City in a single day, the Hilton Times Square and the Embassy
Suites® at Battery Park City marked a spectacular dual grand opening with gala celebrations in Times Square
and Lower Manhattan today. Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani joined Bruce Ratner, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner
Companies (FCRC), and Stephen Bollenbach, President and CEO of Hilton Hotels Corporation, in a two-part ribbon-cutting
to mark the occasion, before hundreds of dignitaries, invited guests and onlookers at each site.
The double grand opening of the new luxury hotels is the result of an alliance between FCRC and Hilton Hotels Corporation,
co-owners of both hotels. In November 1998 a partnership of FCRC and the Promus Hotel Corporation, acquired by
Hilton Hotels Corporation in December 1999, signed a 99-year groundlease with the Empire State Development Corporation,
the New York City Economic Development Corporation and The New 42nd Street to develop the Hilton Times Square.
The Hilton Times Square -- 444 rooms, 304,000 square feet with 6,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and
25 stories high -- is part of FCRC's 42nd Street Hotel, Entertainment and Retail Development that also includes
the newly-opened Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, a 25-screen AMC Cineplex, HMV Records, and many other dining and
retail outlets.
This latest addition to Hilton's portfolio of hotels in New York City sports a modernist facade of geometric shapes
in primary colors, a permanently lit grand marquee, and glittering vistas of the Manhattan skyline and the Hudson
and East Rivers. Each room is equipped with high-speed Internet access and a wireless keyboard for TV Internet
access, as well as safes large enough to safeguard laptop computers.
The Embassy Suites Hotel® at Battery Park City -- 14 stories, 383,000 square feet with 463 suites ranging from
450 to 800 square feet -- is part of a FCRC mixed-use development in Lower Manhattan that also includes a 16-screen
Regal Cinema and nearly 60,000 feet of retail and commercial space. Offering glorious skyline and river views,
the Embassy Suites® is the only upscale, all-suites property in downtown Manhattan.
The hotels are notable for other alliances as well. Both include exciting new restaurants headed by master chef
Larry Forgione, heralded as the pioneer of new American cuisine, that will make them outstanding culinary destinations
in their own right. ``Larry Forgione's Restaurant Above and Pinnacle Bar'' will occupy the sky lobby of the Hilton
Times Square, offering spectacular views of the Crossroads of the World, while the Embassy Suites at Battery Park
City will feature two of Mr. Forgione's eateries -- ``Forgione's Manhattan Prime Steakhouse'' with Hudson River
views and ``Broker's Loft,'' a more casual restaurant.
In addition, Forest City and Hilton joined forces with the Public Art Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated
to bringing art into public spaces, to use these commercial hotel developments as showcases for the cultural vitality
of New York. Guests and visitors at the new hotels will see new specially commissioned works by Sol LeWitt, Tom
Otterness, Pat Steier and Kurt Kauper throughout the lobbies, restaurants, corridors and elevator banks, as well
as prints by Elizabeth Peyton, Sara Sosnowy and Mary Heilmann in each guest room.
The centerpiece of the Hilton Times Square will be a Tom Otterness marquee clock sculpture showing Lilliputian-like
figures toppling a giant clock. Dominating the atrium of the Embassy Suites Hotel® will be Sol LeWitt's 11-story
mural, ``Loopy Doopy (Blue & Purple).''
The Otterness clock sculpture was formally unveiled as part of the Hilton ribbon-cutting ceremony. The subsequent
luncheon at the Embassy Suites at Battery Park City catered by Mr. Forgione was served to more than 300 guests
underneath the LeWitt mural.
Bruce Ratner, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies, said, ``This twin grand opening of two fabulous
new hotels shows exactly why New York City is booming as it enters the 21st Century. The splendid, newly-commissioned
art works that are showcased so prominently throughout both hotels demonstrate that our city remains a vibrant
capital of cultural creativity. What better way could there be to view New York City, and to see it for what it
is -- the center of style, entertainment, great food and great art.''
``The Hilton Times Square Hotel will be an excellent addition to the Crossroads of the World. Each year millions
of people come to Times Square to walk under the bright lights and visit one of the most revitalized parts of New
York City. This Hilton will provide the neighborhood's 26 million annual visitors with much-needed hotel rooms.
I am also pleased that Forest City Ratner is opening the Embassy Suites Hotel® at Battery Park City near the
financial district today. This great new hotel will help accommodate New York City's many business travelers who
visit Lower Manhattan each year,'' expressed Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
``We are excited about increasing Hilton's presence in New York City, and it is extraordinary to celebrate the
opening of two such impressive properties,'' said Dieter Huckestein, President, Hotel Division, Hilton Hotels Corporation.
``We know both these hotels express the quality and service that Hilton Hotels Corporation has come to represent,''
added Thomas Keltner, President, Franchise Group, Hilton Hotels Corporation. Both Mr. Huckestein and Mr. Keltner
were present at the celebrations.
``Thanks to the leadership of Governor George E. Pataki, 42nd Street is once again the true Crossroads of the World,''
Lt. Governor Mary O. Donohue said. ``With 34 million tourists expected to visit New York City this year, these
two new hotels are a welcome addition to Manhattan's skyline. Embassy Suites® and Hilton will enable even more
visitors to enjoy the culture, arts and dining only available in New York. Congratulations to the Ratners and Hilton
on this wonderful addition to the new 42nd Street.''
``By involving distinguished artists in every area of the hotels on such a grand scale, both in public spaces and
in the guest rooms, Forest City Ratner Companies has set a new, very high standard for incorporating contemporary
art into private development,'' said Susan K. Freedman, President of the Public Art Fund.
The total cost of developing the 42nd Street complex, including the Hilton Times Square, is approximately $290
million. Credit Lyonnais and Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, AG (Hypo) are co-lenders of the $73.7 million construction
financing for the Hilton Times Square, while permanent financing of $73.7 million is being provided by Deutsche
Bank, AG. Approximately 2,000 construction-related jobs have been created by the 42nd Street Hotel, Retail and
Entertainment Development, and the complex is expected to generate more than 1,000 permanent jobs.
The cost of developing the Battery Park City project that includes the Embassy Suites Hotel® is $163 million.
Credit Lyonnais and Bayerische Hypo-und Vereinsbank, AG (Hypo) were co-lenders of the $76.7 million construction
financing for the hotel, with $76.7 million in permanent financing provided by Deutsche Bank, AG. Approximately
1,400 construction jobs have been created during the 18 months of construction at the Battery Park City site, and
the total number of new jobs generated by the hotel, theater and retail complex will be approximately 665.
Hilton Hotels Corporation is recognized internationally as a preeminent hospitality company. The company develops,
owns, manages or franchises 1,800 hotels, resorts and vacation ownership properties. Its portfolio includes many
of the world's best known and most highly regarded hotel brands, including Hilton®, Doubletree®, Embassy
Suites®, Hampton Inn®, Hampton Inn and Suites®, Harrison Conference Centers®, Hilton Garden Inn®,
Homewood Suites®, Red Lion Hotels and Inns®, and Conrad International®.
Forest City Ratner Companies is an affiliate of Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises, the largest publicly-traded
development company and a major mixed-use property owner in the United States. FCRC has completed 26 projects comprising
7 million square feet and totaling $1.7 billion. Either under construction or in active development are another
10 projects comprising 3.5 million square feet and totaling $1 billion.
Among FCRC's major projects in New York are the 19-story One Pierrepont Plaza, the first new office building in
Downtown Brooklyn in 25 years; MetroTech Center, a $1-billion, five-million-square-foot office complex in Downtown
Brooklyn; and the new headquarters for the New York Mercantile Exchange near the World Financial Center at Battery
Park City. In addition, FCRC has completed many successful retail projects in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten
Island totaling more than one million square feet of space.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Forest City Ratner Companies
Michele de Milly or Joyce Baumgarten, 212/686-4551
or
Hilton Hotels Corporation
Jeanne Datz, 310/205-4070
jeanne_datz@hilton.com