Mortgage woes lead to more foreclosures

By Pam Dawkins
staff WRITER

Connecticut's foreclosure filings declined between June and July, but the figure is still up for the twelvemonth so far and is approximately 100 percentage higher than the July 2006 filings.

Nationally, the figure of foreclosure filings last calendar month jumped 93 percentage from July 2006 and rose 9 percentage from June, the up-to-the-minute mark householders are having problem devising payments and determination purchasers during the national lodging downturn.

There were 179,599 foreclosure filings nationally reported during July, up from 92,845 during the same time period a twelvemonth ago, Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. said Tuesday. There were 164,644 foreclosure filings reported in June.

According to RealtyTrac, there were 2,118 foreclosure filings in Nutmeg State in July, down from 2,386 in June but more than than dual the 1,038 in July 2006. In July 2005, there were 563 foreclosure filings.

In July 2007, New Haven County had the peak figure of filings, at 706, followed by Capital Of Nutmeg State County at 450 and Fairfield County at 403.

While New Haven County edged up between June and July, Fairfield and Capital Of Connecticut counties reported fewer foreclosures.

"It's calm up on a year-over-year basis," said RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist of Connecticut's foreclosure rate.

Chase Says It Will Move if City Balks

is threatening to move thousands of employees from Midtown to Stamford, Conn., if New York officials do not give it a larger subsidy package to build a 50-story skyscraper near ground zero, according to real estate executives and government officials involved in the talks.

Officials view the bank’s threat to relocate outside Manhattan as the latest move in what has become a routine game of corporate poker in which companies try to extract special benefits. But Chase has gotten in touch with at least one large property owner in downtown Stamford, although it remains unclear whether the bank is serious or bluffing.

Chase struck a tentative deal with the Port Authority in late March to pay about $300 million for the development rights at the site of the soon-to-be-demolished building, at Greenwich and Cedar Streets. Chase planned to build a 1.3-million-square-foot tower there and move thousands of employees from Park Avenue to Lower Manhattan, in what was widely regarded as a boon for the beleaguered district.

Officials expected that the move would solidify Lower Manhattan’s place as a world financial center and validate the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site as a commercial complex.

In subsequent negotiations, state and city officials offered the bank the kind of benefit package available to any company moving to ground zero: a combination of tax breaks, cash payments and subsidized electricity benefits worth more than $100 million. But Chase has continually pushed city and state officials for a batch of subsidies akin to what got in 2005 to build a headquarters in Battery Park City. Critics described that deal as an egregious example of corporate welfare.

State and city officials have resisted the bank’s demands. They regard the Goldman deal as an aberration. And Mayor has said that the city will not grant any special benefits beyond what any other company would get.

“We would hope that Chase recognizes that Lower Manhattan is the financial capital of the world and that they would want to be located here,” said John Gallagher, a spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg. “Because the market in Lower Manhattan is strong and because Chase will realize more than $100 million with the incentives in place for Lower Manhattan, giving them an additional incentive package at this point would be difficult to justify.”

Joseph Evangelisti, a spokesman for Chase, declined to comment. Last week, Chase reported a 55 percent rise in first-quarter profits.

Stamford has been a relatively sleepy rival for Manhattan corporations compared with Jersey City, where U.S. Trust, Goldman Sachs, Chase, UBS and other financial institutions have moved at least part of their operations. Until recently, only UBS and some hedge funds had major operations in Stamford. But now the Royal Bank of Scotland is building a $400 million office complex there for what will be its North American headquarters. The complex includes a 95,000-square-foot trading floor and room for up to 1,400 traders.

State and city officials in New York continue to express optimism that a deal can be struck downtown for Chase. One official, who insisted on anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about Chase, said that the snag centered on sales-tax breaks on building materials for the tower, while another said it had to do with payments the bank would be required to make in lieu of taxes.

Office rents are considerably cheaper downtown than uptown, but holding the line on subsidies has still been difficult since the 2005 Goldman Sachs deal. Goldman negotiated with state and city officials to build a headquarters in Battery Park City, a significant financial investment and the first dramatic boost for Lower Manhattan after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

But after a series of missteps by aides to Gov. , the state was forced to grant an unusually large subsidy package to ensure that Goldman would build the tower.

Goldman Sachs got incentives worth an estimated $650 million in cash grants, tax-exempt bonds, sales and utility tax breaks and discounts on required payments in lieu of taxes. Since then, Chase, and have sought similar packages. City and state officials have rebuffed them.

“The atmosphere in the city and downtown has changed dramatically since Sept. 11,” said Patrick J. Foye, co-chairman of the Empire State Development Corporation, who is talking with Chase executives. “Rents downtown are very strong and demand continues to grow. The state would welcome JPMorgan moving part of its operations to the city’s vibrant downtown.”