P.M. BRIEFING : N.Y. Developer Hit by Slump

William Zeckendorf, one of the key players of the New York real estate market in the 1980s, has been hit by the crisis affecting the industry, it was reported today.

“In New York City’s tottering real estate market, apparently no one is immune,” the Wall Street Journal said. “Zeckendorf is being forced to restructure loans on two of his biggest projects.”

The developer has been meeting for three months with his lenders, Bank of Montreal and Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, to restructure loans that are part of Zeckendorf’s liabilities estimated at $5 billion, the newspaper said.

Tighter credit and declining New York real estate values negatively affected Zeckendorf’s business, regarded among the most soundly established throughout the 1980s.

Zeckendorf is now in Tokyo to negotiate with Japanese builder Tobishima Corp. the sale of a substantial chunk of his New York properties, the newspaper said, adding that the deal is far from completed.