Two years ago, Jay-Z announced plans to open up a hotel chain called J Hotels, with hotshot New York real estate developer Charles Blaichman. But thanks to the Recession Boogeyman, plans have stalled due to lack of financing.
Blaichman recently vented out his frustrations to the New York Times. “Even the banks who want to give us money can’t,” Blaichman, who has developed buildings in New York’s meatpacking district, complained.
The Jay-Z project was set to cost $66 million. But because of national financial woes, banks are reportedly being more tight-fisted with cash, and not without reason. According to the Times, many developers are currently in default.
Because of this, American developers are being forced to look to foreign markets for loans, whose interest rates can be as high as a whopping 20 percent.
According to gossip blogger Perez Hilton, Jay and crew are now attempting to "rent out the former Time Warner Cable warehouse."
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