General Growth Said to Get Mall Bids of $400 Million
Bloomberg reports: General Growth Properties Inc., the mall owner at risk of bankruptcy, received offers of almost $400 million for properties including Boston’s Faneuil Hall and New York’s South Street Seaport, according to a person familiar with the matter.
General Growth, the No. 2 U.S. shopping-mall owner, put the two properties and Harborplace & the Gallery in Baltimore up for sale in December. More than 10 offers were received, including offers for the entire portfolio and for individual properties, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the sales process isn’t public.
General Growth is negotiating with lenders and selling real estate to remain solvent. The company last week said it has $1.18 billion in past-due debt, and warned again it may be forced into bankruptcy. The company has cut its workforce by 20 percent, suspended payment of its cash dividend, and halted or slowed development and redevelopment projects.
The Chicago-based company is likely to choose a buyer for Faneuil Hall, South Street Seaport and Harborplace & the Gallery in the next several weeks, the person familiar with the sale said. The person wouldn’t identify the bidders, which included private groups, buyers from overseas and real-estate developers. The highest bids for each property total almost $400 million, the person said.
The three properties, acquired when General Growth purchased Rouse Co. for $11.3 billion in 2004, are “unique assets” that likely will be sold to a buyer experienced in running “operator- heavy properties,” said Dan Fasulo, managing director of Real Capital Analytics Inc., a New York-based property-research firm.
“You’re not going to get a novice coming in here and trying to get these to work,” Fasulo said. “You need someone who has some experience running a lifestyle-type asset. There will be a finite number of people looking at these.”
View the full article on Bloomberg: General Growth Said to Get Mall Bids of $400 Million
Posted by: Nina Turner