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Forest City Commercial Group Selects Westin to Manage the 618-room Property |
CLEVELAND - Dec. 21, 2000--Forest City Commercial Group, a subsidiary
of Forest City Enterprises, Inc. announced today that it has finalized
an agreement with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT)
to manage the DoubleTree Pittsburgh Hotel at Liberty Center as The Westin
Convention Center, Pittsburgh, effective January 18, 2001.
Developed and built by Forest City in partnership with Jos. L. Muscarelle, Inc. in 1987, the hotel has been managed by DT Management Inc., a subsidiary of Hilton Hotel Corporation since 1995. The hotel is connected via an enclosed walkway to the 131,000 square foot David L. Lawrence Convention Center in downtown Pittsburgh. The convention center is currently undergoing a $328 million expansion program to be completed in 2003, which nearly triples the exhibit space. �We are very enthusiastic about the city�s plans for the new convention
center and what it will mean for Pittsburgh in terms of increased convention
business,� said Brian J. Ratner, senior vice president of East Coast development
for Forest City. �Westin has a great deal of experience in the convention
business and we are confident that the center will greatly benefit from
having Westin connected as an integral part to meet the increased demand,�
he continued.
�We are making other significant investments in the Pittsburgh market because we have such confidence in the growth of the area,� Mr. Ratner said, citing the expansion of the Station Square entertainment/retail center and the construction of the 1.2 million-square-foot Mall at Robinson in Robinson Township, due to open in October 2001. Forest City Enterprises, Inc. is a $3.9 billion, NYSE-listed real estate company headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, principally engaged in the ownership, development, acquisition and management of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States. The company�s portfolio of property investments includes interests in 15.7 million square feet of leasable space in 41 retail centers; 33,000 residential units in 108 apartment communities; 7.2 million square feet in 24 office buildings; and 3,000 rooms in nine hotels. This diversified portfolio is operated by regional offices in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Tucson, Denver, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. Westin Hotels & Resorts, with more than 120 hotels and resorts in 25 countries, is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. Starwood is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties. |
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Gretchen Kloke, 914/640-5236 [email protected] |