The Deal of the Week column in today’s issue of the Wall Street Journal discusses the 18-story One Riverwalk Place in San Antonio.
The building on the northern edge of the city’s famed River Walk was purchased by Equastone LLC in 2006. Its mortgagte is in default, contractors have filed claims against the property for unpaid bills and it has been scheduled for foreclosure auction at least twice. No sale has been recorded on the property, and if the foreclosure were to go through, it would be the largest multi-tennant office building to go back to a lender since the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s.
With that, and a report from the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas that predicts the state will lose 300,000 jobs this year and the unemployment rate may rise to 8 percent, it is clear that Texas will not be immune to the economic downturn.
Speaking of ties to a crisis, the construction of the River Walk began in the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration project. The 3.2 mile strip draws thousands of tourists annually to its numerous shops, hotels and restaurants.
