Finances scuttle $5B in NYC development

NEW YORK, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- Financial woes have delayed or canceled nearly $5 billion in New York City development projects, squelching an important job source, industry experts say.

The commercial real estate bust is delivering a tough blow to an industry that last year provided 130,000 unionized jobs and will mean New York's landscape will remain virtually unchanged for two years, The New York Times reported Saturday.

Construction and land development loans have slowed their growth rate drastically this year -- 0.08 percent through September compared with an 11.3 percent growth rate for 2007 and 25.7 percent in 2006, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. reported. Meanwhile, developers who do have loans are defaulting more often, with 7.3 percent of development loans in default compared with 1 percent in 2007, the Times said.

"There's no way to finance a project," Stephen Blank of the Urban Land Institute, a nonprofit group, told the newspaper.

The $5 billion in delayed or canceled New York projects include luxury high-rise buildings, office renovations for major banks and new hospital wings, while the Building Trades Employers' Association, a New York contractors' group, is urging trade union members to accept wage cuts or freezes.