Forest City Drops Other Shoe

Late Friday Forest City Ratner issued yet another salvo in the war with Skanska over their jointly operated and now-shuttered modular factory. “FCRC Modular representatives tried to enter the factory today and were barred by Skanska,” said a press release we received.

So, the release goes on, yet another lawsuit has been filed — this one by FCR Modular, the Forest City half of the partnership that with Skanska Modular runs the joint venture called FC+Skanska, according to the release.

To make a long story short, it alleges breach of contract by Skanska for shutting down the factory and asks the court for an injunction to reopen the factory “immediately.” Perhaps last week’s request to take over the factory was laying the groundwork for this suit?

In any case, it occurs to us that the merits of the case — even if, say, the allegations of both parties are true and they are both at fault — Skanska for poor management and Forest City for a non-workable modular design — may not matter. The winner may well turn out to be the one who can prove breach of contract.

Photo by Curbed