the presence of construction vehicles and disruptions caused by the renovation work. To prevent traffic problems, much of the construction work was ended each day around 12:30 p.m. By June 2008, construction was underway on the new, northern hotel tower, which had reached the fourth floor. Later that year, construction began on the south tower. During the Great Recession in 2008, Morgans Hotel Group began gradually reducing its equity in the Hard Rock joint venture, and the resort suffered financially as a result of the recession. As of August 2008, Morgans held a 20 percent stake in the resort. The Hard Rock took advantage of the recession by hiring skilled construction workers who otherwise would have been busy working on other projects, if not for the economic slowdown. Construction proceeded ahead of schedule, with 1,600 workers and M.J. Dean as the general contractor. The company had worked on a previous expansion of the Hard Rock as well. Later in 2008, the Hard Rock experienced its largest quarterly revenue drop under its new ownership. The poor revenue was attributed to decreased consumer spending as well as disruptions caused by the ongoing expansion work. The 17-story north tower, with 479 rooms, was topped off on October 24, 2008. The 15-story south tower was topped off on February 6, 2009, and approximately of meeting space was added. In May 2009, Morgans announced that due to declining revenue caused by the recession, it would reduce its ownership stake to 14 percent by the end of the year. Despite decreased revenue, plans remained on track to open the new hotel towers, which had already been fully financed. The Hard Rock planned to hire 1,200 people to operate the new additions to the resort. This would include 800 employees who would be split between the two new hotel towers. More than 3,800 people interviewed for the 800 available job positions. The Paradise Tower, located on the north portion of the property, opened ahead of schedule in July 2009. Despite the recession, the hotel was performing well because of the new Joint and convention space, and the additional rooms were considered a necessity. The tower opened with 479 rooms, while 10 suites and a penthouse would be finished the following month. In August 2009, the Hard Rock Hotel was in discussions with its lenders to delay the upcoming maturity date on its $1 billion loan, from February