Commercial real estate developers are no longer immune to the credit crunch hitting residential real estate owners and developers, according to today's Wall Street Journal. Yesterday in visible proof of the problem, a Las Vegas casino developer, Bruce Eichner, defaulted on a $750 million loan from Deutsche Bank because he was not able to refinance the debt. It's not the first time he's been caught up in a credit crunch. The Journal reports he lost several projects in New York City during its real estate downturn in the early 1990s.

The Journal also points out he's not the only one having trouble getting refinancing. Other commercial developers in trouble according to the Journal include:

• A major Australian shopping mall developer, one of the largest owners of shopping centers in the U.S., has been unable to refinance $3.4 billion in short-term debt.

• New York developer Harry Macklowe, who bought office buildings at the top of the commercial real estate market, can't refinance $7 billion in debt that's due in February. He's trying to sell his General Motors Building in midtown Manhattan to come up with cash.

According to The Wall Street Journal, New York real estate mogul Harry Macklowe's real estate empire is in serious trouble. After purchasing seven New York buildings from Equity Office Properties Trust for $6.8 billion, Macklowe's company, Macklowe Properties, has $5.1 billion in debt that must be paid off by February.

The state of the credit markets is making refinancing very difficult, and because of the tiny down payment ($50 million), the properties are not generating positive cash flow.

Macklowe's people are, of course, expressing confidence, and many observers believe that Macklowe will pull through. But maybe Macklowe has nothing to worry about, even if it does end badly. After all, wiped out real estate moguls don't disappear, they just ...

Get their own reality shows, have epic feuds with Rose O'Donnell, sell real estate seminars through late-night infomercials, and have their own brands of water.

Carl Icahn is certainly a tough buyout player. He has made billions from this game, so when he makes a bid, you can usually count on it.

But in the case of his offer for Reckson Associates Realty Corporation (NYSE: RA), things didn't turn out so well. In order to pull off the deal, he tried to partner with two real estate firms, Harry Macklowe and Mack-Cali Realty.

Well, these firms bailed. But Icahn still wants Reckson and has made his own offer. It includes $1 billion in cash, as well as convertible securities backed by American Real Estate Partners, one of Icahn's holdings. Interestingly enough, this structure looks like a typical deal from the 1980s. Then again, Icahn is a veteran deal maker and was a superstar during that time.

We'll see how this plays out. Reckson's stock opened down about 5% on news of the initial offer, but is now climbing back up. Can Icahn work his magic again?

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and operates DealProfiles.com.