Wall Street Journal: Tale of two Chicago loans tells story about troubled Ashley Terrace in Ann Arbor, too

Posted on Thu, Sep 23, 2010 : 8:13 p.m.

Ashley Terrace.

Ann Arbor News file photo

Chicago-area bloggers are buzzing about Tuesday's Wall Street Journal article that outlines the lending issues behind two troubled projects in the Loop by Joseph Freed & Associates.

"BofA Gets Tough. PNC Doesn't. Why" explores why one lender is playing hardball with a $173 million loan - yet a block away, another bank is working with the developer on a $170 million loan.

While Chicago is a long ways from Ann Arbor in many ways, this story hits close to home here. This is where Freed still owns projects, including the troubled Ashley Terrace.

The mixed-use high-rise at the corner of North Ashley and West Huron made news this summer when lender Bank of America started foreclosure proceedings on a total of $20 million owed on the property. At the time, Freed controlled 28 of the 99 condos, as well as office space and retail space on lower levels.

At the same time, Freed has been publicly battling Bank of America over its takeover of Block 37 in Chicago.

Yet, as the Wall Street Journal illustrates, Freed is following a different, more collaborative path with a second Chicago development - The Sullivan Center - and its lender PNC Bank.

The reasons for the different approaches are outlined in the article. And, one presumes, it offers some insight into what is happening to Freed's Ann Arbor properties.

That's because while Ashley Terrace is going through its public upheaval, there's been no similar news about 411 Lofts or the Glen Ann property.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.