Phila's Le Meridien deal for sale after bank fails: report

"Bids are due April 12" in the auction of $412 million in loans financed by failed Silverton Bank, of Georgia, reports Bloomberg here. The loans, to be sold by a unit of Deutsche Bank, include "$254 million of loans for commercial real estate projects... They range from providing $752,000 in financing for convenience stores in Los Angeles to $46 million for a Le Meridien Hotel in Philadelphia."

So, the loan's for sale, presumably at a discount.  Is that why Le Meridien has been pushing back the opening date for its fancy Arch St. hotel, at the Horace Trumbauer-designed former Y, from last summer, to fall, to sometime this April?  Trey Sarten, spokesman for Le Meridien parent Starwood Hotels, referred me to Ted Darnell and Steve Mendell of the hotel's ownership group, AGI Hotels in Connecticut, who didn't call back. Nor did Deutsche Bank, which seems in no hurry to spread the word about this sale.

NEW: You can search the FDIC's asset-sales data in vain for a listing of the Le Meridien loan. FDIC spokesman Greg Hernandez tells me his agency typically doesn't publicly list failed-bank assets "until after the sales have taken place." Which is a big contrast with RTC sales of the late-80s, early-90s, if I remember right. How does secrecy help move properties at attractive prices?