CLEVELAND, April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Forest City Realty Trust, Inc., (NYSE: FCEA and FCEB) today announced that is has named Ketan Patel, an experienced legal, compliance and ethics professional with significant expertise in real estate, as Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel.

"We are excited to have an individual of Ketan's caliber and background join our senior management group and lead our legal team," said David J. LaRue, president and chief executive officer. "His diverse, senior-level experience, including with a national real estate investment trust, makes him an excellent fit for Forest City."

Patel was most recently Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Chief Ethics Officer of FirstEnergy Corp., a major Midwestern electric utility, were he served as a primary liaison to FirstEnergy's board and managed a team of 150 associates across the company's Real Estate & Facilities, Corporate, and Records & Information Compliance departments.

Previously, Patel was Associate General Counsel at DDR Corp., a national real estate investment trust, based in Beachwood, Ohio, where he oversaw the Corporate & Transactions Group with responsibility for acquisitions and dispositions, capital markets transactions, joint ventures and tax, as well as other general corporate matters. He began his legal career with McDonald, Hopkins, Burke & Haber, LPA, a super-regional law firm with office in the Midwest and Florida. He received his Bachelor's degree from Princeton University, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School.

Patel is expected to assume his responsibilities with Forest City in mid-May. He succeeds Geralyn A. Presti, who stepped down as General Counsel in the first quarter of 2017 to become President and Chief Executive Officer of The Music Settlement of University Circle, a 104-year-old Cleveland non-profit organization.

About Forest City
Forest City Realty Trust, Inc. is an NYSE-listed national real estate company with $8.2 billion in consolidated assets. The company is principally engaged in the ownership, development, management and acquisition of commercial and residential real estate throughout the United States. For more information, visit www.forestcity.net.

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SOURCE Forest City Realty Trust, Inc.