Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Carlyle Writes Off 14 Wall Street


Crain's NY reported:

An owner of 14 Wall St. is desperately seeking a cash infusion for the property so it can repay a $145 million first mortgage by its maturity date in May.

Real estate sources say that owner Capstone Equities has reached out to various brokers, owners and financiers about investing in the 37-story, 1 million-square-foot property that's across Wall Street from the New York Stock Exchange.

Capstone and partner The Carlyle Group paid $325 million for the property that was formerly known as the Bankers Trust Building in 2007 when the market was booming. However, sources say that Carlyle has written off the investment and is not helping in the quest to find another partner.
Doesn't high frequency trading need close proximity to exchanges, like the NYSE?

Carlyle let a number of investments go over the years.  Carlyle Capital Corporation (CCC) was a canary in the coalmine for the Fall 2008 financial crisis.

A tremendous amount of loans were written during the boom that come due this year. About $6 billion in commercial mortgages on New York City buildings that were bundled and sold as bonds mature in 2012.

Will 14 Wall Street serve the same function as CCC?  Might it predict another round of "unprecedented tumult"?

Update 4-5-12:  A fertilizer tycoon, who sits at #1015 on Forbes Billionaire List, picked up 14 Wall Street.  Ironically, Carlyle's co-founding DBD's stand at #418.  Who had more money to save the storied building?  The DBD's did.  They simply chose not to.