by According to the Wall Street Journal, Harry Macklowe is still battling his lenders and his lenders are battling each other over his New York skyscrapers: Macklowe, Lenders Seek a Deal. At stake are: 717 Fifth Avenue, Worldwide Plaza, 1301 Avenue of the Americas, Park Avenue Tower, 527 Madison Avenue, 1540 Broadway, 850 Third Avenue and Tower 56 with about 6.5 million square feet of space.
It looks like his senior debt with Deutsche Bank is due shortly. Given the state of the debt markets he is no position to refinance that senior loan. On top of that, he needs to satisfy his subordinate lenders in mezzanine and other higher tranches of debt. According to the article, there are 20 other lenders holding subordinate debt.
I would assume that Mr. Macklowe is trying to turn over the buildings to Deutsche Bank, but the subordinate lenders (who have the most to lose) want to control the sale process.
My guess is that the lawyers for the lenders and Macklowe are working around the clock trying to evaluate who can do what to who in the process. According to Square Feet Blog, Macklowe personally guaranteed $1 billion of that debt and is putting his trophy GM Building up for sale to make good on the guaranty.
It seems that Blackstone’s acquisition of Equity Office was the high-water mark of the real estate capital markets. Macklowe’s acquisition of these 7 properties was a flip from Blackstone as part of the large acquisition of Equity Office Properties. [Blackstone Makes Quick Cash]
