New Bank Regulations Could Dampen Hotel Lending
On Jan. 1, U.S. banks are required to adopt new underwriting criteria based on Basel-3 guidelines, which will sharply increase the capital banks must hold in reserve against “acquisition, development, or construction” loans above 80 percent loan-to-value (LTV) and where up-front capital contribution is less than 15 percent of the project’s “as completed” value. Where banks typically reserve at least …