Forest City Ratner Cos. has long been considered a champion of pre-fab construction for large structures. Its groundbreaking in-house modular development team called FC Modular took on the construction of B2BKLYN, the tallest modular building in the world.
While the building, now known as 461 Dean Street, is complete and finally accepting residents, the company has sold off its prefab operations to Roger Krulak, a former Forest City executive, and founder and CEO of Full Stack Modular.
Krulak purchased the core assets of the company's modular operations, including the long-term factory lease in Brooklyn Navy Yard and all equipment and intellectual property, as well as the bespoke technology created for the manufacturing process. Full Stack Modular will also maintain its agreement with the union and plans to employ much of the team that was there previously.
In a statement, Forest City President and CEO Mary Anne Gilmartin expressed pride in the company's modular accomplishments, but is ready to focus the company's efforts on development and management of its properties.
"We have always been firm believers in modular construction and we are incredibly proud of the breakthroughs we've made that will soon be seen at 461 Dean Street," said MaryAnne Gilmartin, president and CEO of Forest City Ratner Companies. "The sale allows us to put our focus on our core strengths – management of our assets and our incredible pipeline of development. We are thrilled that the high-rise residential modular industry we launched will continue its groundbreaking innovations in the skilled hands of Roger Krulak at Full Stack Modular. We know it will be a great success."
Selling its in-house modular development team appears to be just one move in a series of moves by Forest City to divest in non-core businesses. The company converted to a REIT earlier this year, and since then has divested its modular operations, military housing, and its FHA portfolio.
