The new owners of downtown’s landmark Padre Hotel are hurriedly trying to secure a $16 million construction loan after San Joaquin Bank declined to finance the building’s renovation.

“No one’s lending for anything right now,” owner Brett Miller said.

The project is still on track to open as a 112-room boutique hotel by March next year, said Miller, a partner in the San Diego development team that bought the nearly empty building two months agofor $4 million.

The developers have a letter of commitment from another bank, but the financing isn’t yet a sure thing, Miller said. They expect to know if the loan is theirs within 30 days.

It’s a financing saga highlighting how the subprime lending crisis has tied up all types of credit, not just home loans. Read the whole story.

Discuss, if you wish.

-Vanessa Gregory, staff writer