A Green Forest Grows in Brooklyn: Joint Venturing with the Chinese

MaryAnne Gilmartin, President and CEO of Forest City Ratner (“Forest City”) was planning for yet another protracted discussion over the merits of a green roof for part of her $5 billion dollar new development in Brooklyn. While the low seven-figure cost overrun was to be “value-engineered” and, in the scheme of things, this budgeted item was not going to impact the financial success of the project, it had become a heated source of contention. Was the debate symptomatic of something deeper that was amiss in the relationship? How had differing expectations of the participants in this marriage of Chinese capital and Western development led to the present challenges?