The Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences in Seattle opened last year at the right place, but unfortunately at the wrong time. Boasting 36 high-priced condos atop a four-star hotel with views of the Olympic Mountains and downtown, the Four Seasons Hotel and Private Residences has tried to sell condos at prices that even Seattle's wealthiest wouldn't touch: up to nearly $11.5 million. As the trauma of the great recession continues to hammer the commercial real estate market, the Four Seasons appears to be the latest victim. But in the case of the Four Seasons, some of those getting hurt are the ones who designed and built the 21-story building at 99 Union St. The building has 149 hotel rooms. About a dozen firms involved in the $120 million project are suing for $34 million in unpaid bills, according to the Seattle Times.

The largest lien of $23 million was filed last summer, the Times reports, by general contractor Lease Crutcher Lewis. The case of the Four Seasons portends a grim reality that the U.S. commercial market is due for an extended, painful downturn. Nearly a third of the assets seized last year by the FDIC from failed banks involved real estate loans -- creating a systemic problem for small banks nationwide that will be affected by the commercial real estate downturn. In the case of the Four Seasons in Seattle, contractors are claiming that Lease Crutcher has not paid them.