TAMPA - Trump Tower Tampa, the 52-story riverfront project trumpeted as downtown's crowning luxury condominium building, is still at ground level and without construction financing, its project manager acknowledged Friday.

Eby Paul, project manager for Tampa-based developer SimDag LLC, said work has slowed but that he expects to increase construction as early as next week. The project has been without a general contractor since April, but Paul said an announcement about a new one will be made soon.

"We're still working," Paul said.

Condominium financing has slowed considerably in recent months, and bankers who financed other Florida projects say the current market would make it more difficult for Trump developers to get the kind of funding they want.

Phillip Carroll, southeast regional real estate manager for Key Bank, which has financed condominium projects throughout the state, said if SimDag "doesn't have the financing by now, it could be many years before they get a bank to give them a construction loan."

"If they're not going vertical, they're way off their target date" of August 2008, Carroll said.

In comparison, developers of the 32-story SkyPoint downtown condominium filed notice to begin work within a month of Trump Tower developers. SkyPoint's construction now looms high above Ashley Drive.

David Hooks, spokesman for the Trump Tower project, would not say where the financing stands and would not answer general questions. He did say a news release with updates would be issued soon.

For days, construction appeared to have halted at the Ashley Drive site. Friday afternoon, three workers were on the property.

Since plans were announced January 2005 for a 600-foot, $220 million tower - which would be Tampa's tallest - the project completion date has been moved several times, and developers parted ways with at least two contractors. Developers acknowledged in February that costs have gone up 50 percent and that they had passed along a $40 million increase to buyers with reservations to acquire units.

At the time, Frank Dagostino, SimDag's chief executive officer, said 80 percent of the 192 units were spoken for. The majority of those buyers had contracts, he said, and had put down 20 percent nonrefundable deposits.

Bovis Lend Lease Bid Too High

In August 2005, Bovis Lend Lease, a unit of Australian Lend Lease Corp., the developer doing the site work, said it was vying to become the general contractor but had been told its bid was too high.

In December 2005, SimDag announced Dallas-based Turner Construction Co. as the general contractor. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in March, and Turner was dropped in April. At that time, Hooks, the SimDag spokesman, said the change would not delay construction and that condos would be ready for tenants in August 2008.

Turner filed with Hillsborough County a $1.6 million lien on the property on June 14, saying it had not been paid for "furnished labor materials equipment, tools, supervision and related services" for Trump Tower.

Scott Skidelsky, vice president and general manager for Turner, signed the lien. He could not be reached for comment for this story.

Hooks would not address the lien.

Bob Bass, with the city's Inspection Services Division, said a permit for construction of the shell of the building was issued in March. The city is waiting for engineering reports before it can issue permits for other work, he said.

"We look at those reports because we want to make sure the building is built in a safe manner," Bass said.

Builder Didn't Like Wachovia Offer

Ted Starkey, of Wachovia Bank, said his bank negotiated with the Trump team earlier in the development process. He said the bank made SimDag an offer but that it was turned down.

At the time, he said, the team was asking for a nonrecourse loan, which he said is not unusual for large projects such as Trump Tower. It isn't, however, a loan typically approved by commercial banks because the developers "don't have to personally sign their name, guaranteeing the loan amount."

The condominium building market has slowed dramatically, and banks are much more reluctant to issue loans for condo development, especially nonrecourse loans, said Carroll, of Miami-based Key Bank.

Some banks are still lending to condo developers, but they are much pickier, Carroll said.

Banks used to require a developer to have enough pre-sales to cover as little as 50 percent of the loan amount. Today, he said, most banks require 100 percent coverage.

Another change in today's market, he said, is that banks used to finance up to 90 percent of the construction amount. Now it's more likely to be 70 percent to 80 percent.

Carroll is not involved in the Trump project but said a tower of its size likely would take three years to build, making it difficult to meet the projected August 2008 completion date.

Calls to Donald Trump's offices were not returned.

At least one buyer, Stephen Page, of Clearwater, said he's unconcerned.

"I'm looking forward to this going vertical," Page said, noting he paid just under $1 million for the two-bedroom condo he wants on the 34th floor. "Knowing the Trump people, I have a lot of confidence they'll get it done."

Kate Caldwell of News Channel 8 contributed to this report. Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804.