General Growth Properties Inc.

[Coyote]

Owner of Oak View, Westroads malls in Omaha is in trouble

General Growth Properties Inc. shares plummeted Tuesday after the mall owner warned it may be forced to file for bankruptcy if it can’t refinance or extend nearly $1 billion in debt due next month. The real estate investment trust, the nation’s second-largest mall owner, also disclosed in a regulatory filing late Monday that it may default on certain debt obligations. In Omaha, General Growth owns Westroads Mall and Oak View Mall. General Growth is trying to sell off properties and cut costs to weather the rocky economic climate.

[nativeomahan]

This is all beginning to sound like a giant House of Cards.

[icejammer]

Much of the same from the Nonpareil today:

Mall of the Bluffs owner may file for bankruptcy

. . . In an e-mail statement to The Daily Nonpareil Wednesday, GGP spokesperson David Keating stated the Council Bluffs and Omaha malls would be open for the holiday season.

"We continue working with our advisors to develop a comprehensive, strategic plan to generate capital from a variety of sources including, but not limited to, core and non-core asset sales, joint venture interests, a corporate-level capital infusion and/or strategic business combinations. Regardless of our situation, our properties and company will continue to operate, remain vibrant and look forward to a prosperous holiday season."

Chicago-based General Growth has $958 million in debt that comes due Dec. 1 and another $3 billion in debt that matures in 2009.

On Tuesday, Standard and Poor's announced it will drop General Growth Properties Inc. from its benchmark S&P 500 Index.

General Growth Properties, the nation's second-largest mall owner whose big-name holdings include Chicago's Water Tower Place and Fashion Show in Las Vegas, also disclosed in a regulatory filing late Monday that it may default on certain debt obligations. . . .

[Greg S]

Owner of Westroads, Oak View, and Mall of the Bluffs, does what has been expected for months and files for bankruptcy.

Omaha mall operator declares bankruptcy

http://omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1208&u_sid=10611463

General Growth has a stake in more than 200 malls in 44 states, including Oak View and Westroads in Omaha and Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs.

The company said it will continue operating all of its shopping centers during the bankruptcy process. Shoppers at its malls will not be affected by its decision to file for bankruptcy protection, company officials said.

“Our restructuring will be invisible to the customers who visit our properties every day,’’ President and Chief Operating Officer Thomas H. Nolan Jr. said during a morning conference call.

The Chapter 11 filing had been anticipated since the fall, when the company warned it might have to seek bankruptcy protection if it didn’t get lenders to rework its debt terms. Efforts to negotiate with its unsecured and secured creditors ultimately fell short late last month.

Chapter 11 protection typically allows a company to hold off creditors and operate as normal while it develops a financial reorganization plan.

Greg

[Brad]

remember to please include more than a link, the OWH only keeps stories for 7 days.

With the Success of Westroads its interesting to see this, they must not have the same luck with the rest of their malls.  How is Oakview these days?

[Greg S]

I was at Westroads a few weeks ago and was surprised to see the number of vacancies.  I don't think Mall of the Bluffs has been able to replace Penny's or Target yet either.  I think Dillard's is the only anchor store left.

Greg

[thenewguy]

remember to please include more than a link, the OWH only keeps stories for 7 days.

With the Success of Westroads its interesting to see this, they must not have the same luck with the rest of their malls.  How is Oakview these days?

Oakview had a few more vacancies than i expected.  My wife and i went out there to check out the disney store, but found that it had left last year.  there wasn't much to sneeze at really, and i thought i remembered there being more stores.  Westroads is the best mall in the area, as far as malls are concerned...IMO.

Looking back, i wish that all the outdoor malls wouldn't have boomed the way they are.  I love going inside one building to get all my stuff and get out, without driving from place to place like you have to at outdoor malls.  Oh well, it's evolution baby.

[Bosco55David]

remember to please include more than a link, the OWH only keeps stories for 7 days.

With the Success of Westroads its interesting to see this, they must not have the same luck with the rest of their malls.  How is Oakview these days?

Oakview had a few more vacancies than i expected.  My wife and i went out there to check out the disney store, but found that it had left last year.  there wasn't much to sneeze at really, and i thought i remembered there being more stores.  Westroads is the best mall in the area, as far as malls are concerned...IMO.

Looking back, i wish that all the outdoor malls wouldn't have boomed the way they are.  I love going inside one building to get all my stuff and get out, without driving from place to place like you have to at outdoor malls.  Oh well, it's evolution baby.

I think you'll see a rebirth of the indoor malls in the coming years. I don't see these outdoor "lifestyle" centers remaining popular for very long. Also, I'm sure that when the economy is picking up again the malls we do have will start getting more tenants.

[Bomaha]

possibly, but it/they would have to incorporate a mixed-use function, as well.

[Bosco55David]

possibly, but it/they would have to incorporate a mixed-use function, as well.

I doubt it.

[Brad]

I was at Westroads tonight.  After purchasing some new pants, I took a lap on each floor.  10 empty bays, 4 lower, 6 upper.  There were also some "Sketchy" tenants and one non retail tenant.

[Brad]

That's not good... Westroads could end up like crossroads!

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Where does Simon even get $10 billion?

[almighty_tuna]

It's hiding under Crossroads.

[iamjacobm]

https://www.omaha.com/money/retail/toro ... f2936.html

Brookfield Asset Management is betting against the retail apocalypse with its takeover of General Growth Properties, slated to have closed Tuesday.

General Growth Properties has about 125 malls in the U.S. Locally, it owns the Westroads and Oak View Malls.

Toronto-based Brookfield is paying about $15 billion for the second-largest mall owner in the U.S. as investors — and shoppers — shun brick-and-mortar retail. Brookfield, which already owned a third of General Growth Properties, was the only bidder that showed up when the company put itself on the block last year.

Brookfield’s top real estate executive wasn’t surprised.

“We look for places where people are running away from,” said Brian Kingston, chief executive of Brookfield Property Partners LP, the asset manager’s publicly traded real estate arm. “Ultimately we’re value investors. So that means many times it leads you to being contrarian.”

[GrandpaaSmucker]

If the economy ever does really turn around and the masses can afford to shop at mall stores again..........they will have made a great investment. Until the economy turns around they will lose money from day 1.

[debradomayer]

If the economy ever does really turn around and the masses can afford to shop at mall stores again..........they will have made a great investment. Until the economy turns around they will lose money from day 1.

They will make money even if it's on the backs of the retailers. I see rent increases in the near future...

[Brad]

If the economy ever does really turn around and the masses can afford to shop at mall stores again..........they will have made a great investment. Until the economy turns around they will lose money from day 1.

They will make money even if it's on the backs of the retailers. I see rent increases in the near future...

Read this article the other day... https://www.wsj.com/articles/who-killed ... 1535034401

Its amazing how people find ways to make money on the backs of others.

[Greg S]

If the economy ever does really turn around and the masses can afford to shop at mall stores again..........they will have made a great investment. Until the economy turns around they will lose money from day 1.

We could have the best economy of the last 50 years and enclosed malls will not be coming back to anything like they used to be. The younger generation just really has no use for them.

Greg

[bigredmed1]

If the economy ever does really turn around and the masses can afford to shop at mall stores again..........they will have made a great investment. Until the economy turns around they will lose money from day 1.

We could have the best economy of the last 50 years and enclosed malls will not be coming back to anything like they used to be. The younger generation just really has no use for them.

Greg

I am afraid that you are correct. In the 70's and 80s we used to refer to male pattern shopping where men would go in, get a shirt or whatever they needed and leave, and women would wander around and look at stuff. Now both genders do that and with online shopping, fewer over all people are going to the malls. The question is how much land are they buying. Will they start moving into the office business?