The Boston Herald reported that a three-day bench trial began yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court regarding the W luxury condos and hotel.
The W defaulted on its $180.8 million mortgage payment in April and Prudential Insurance Co. of America is arguing its time to blow the whistle. An attorney for Prudential said the W’s luxury condo sales aren’t on target, they’ve failed to open a “theme bar” and equity in the W is worth about $140 million now. Naturally the W’s attorney begs to differ, saying the hotel portion is at 75% occupancy and there are plenty of pending sales. Still, as the Herald notes, only 29 percent of the residences have sold so far.
The city of Boston, of course, is in court, too, arguing against foreclosure. The city loaned $10.5 million for construction, and the odds are good the city would only get a fraction of that back in a settlement — or worse. A decision won’t happen for a few weeks.
