High-rise construction halted, financing ‘does not exist right now’
Tom Moyer, one of Portland’s most successful real estate developers, will halt work Monday on his 32-floor tower now under construction in downtown Portland. Moyer’s decision to pull 350 workers off the Park Avenue West is a stunning sign that no city, no person and no block is spared from this recession. Moyer is one of Oregon’s wealthiest developers, and the Park Avenue West is anchored on prime downtown land, in a city that one company ranks as having the country’s second most stable office market. The building, originally scheduled to open in 2011, already was more than half leased by a law firm and a Nike store. In other words, if anyone in this town could get a loan, it would be this guy on this project. “Construction financing does not exist right now,” said Vanessa Sturgeon, president of TMT Development, Moyer’s company, which is building Park Avenue West. Moyer’s financial woes show that even though the U.S. Treasury pumps billions of dollars into banks, that cash is not landing in the hands of the people who need it. Moyer, who has been in real estate since the 1950s, may be able to withstand the pain. But at the end of the line, lenders’ reluctance means construction workers may not receive a paycheck, finding it harder to make the mortgage and buy new shoes for their kids. Even though the banks are under pressure to improve their own health, borrowers remain frustrated by their unwillingness to lend. … Moyer finished the Fox Tower in the teeth of the dot-com bust, but it still became one of Portland’s most notable buildings, attracting high-end retailers. But this recession is like nothing that’s come before it. Developers in other cities have stopped midstream on high-rise construction projects. But in Portland, veteran real estate professionals said they couldn’t recall any other developer who stopped construction on a high-rise in the last 30 years. “It seemed like something that happens in other places,” Eberwein said. …
Construction of downtown Portland high-rise is halted by tight credit
