With Wall Street hemorrhaging jobs and the commercial property industry poised to take a big fall, this might not seem the ideal year
to be completing a luxury hotel and condominium building near the World
Trade Center.
But the $240 million W Hotel and Residences, which is rising on
Washington Street, is not the only project that could cause headaches
for Joseph Moinian, its developer. One of the largest private real
estate magnates in the country, Mr. Moinian is a former garment
manufacturer who has amassed more than 20 million square feet of
office, residential and industrial space since the early 1990s.
Moinian is far from the only real estate executive facing
difficulties as office vacancies rise and property values decline. And
unlike some companies that flipped properties at a dizzying pace during
the go-go years, Moinian is a long-term holder who rarely sells a
building. He has relatively little near-term refinancing risk.
But a $328 million loan from Wachovia, a frequent lender to Mr.
Moinian, for 180 Maiden Lane in Manhattan’s financial district comes
due in November and could be difficult to refinance, said Robert M.
White Jr., the president of Real Capital Analytics, a New York research
company. “My guess is that Moinian will have to come up with more
equity to get it refinanced,” he said.