Burbank Town Center

General Growth Properties Inc., which owns the Glendale Galleria and operates the Burbank Town Center, filed a plan Wednesday in bankruptcy court to restructure terms for $9.7 billion in secured mortgage loans in the hopes of relieving its debt obligations. The Chicago-based firm, which owns more than 200 malls nationwide, filed for bankruptcy protection in April and has tried to alleviate its debt obligations, and those related to 158 regional shopping malls, by the end of the year.

DOWNTOWN — The owner of the Glendale Galleria and more than 200 shopping malls nationwide filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Thursday, resulting in one of the largest real estate failures in U.S. history, analysts said. General Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust based in Chicago, accrued $27.3 billion in debt on its way to becoming the second-largest mall operator in the U.S. The company intends to continue operating all of its shopping centers, including the Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center, throughout the bankruptcy process.

CITY CENTER ? Police today arrested a 45-year-old man suspected of raping an unconscious 24-year-old man this weekend in his Burbank apartment before fleeing with his laptop computer. Richard Scott Poland, of Burbank, was arrested Thursday somewhere within the Burbank Town Center on the 200 block of East Magnolia Boulevard and booked on charges of sodomy and grand theft. Police also recovered the stolen computer, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said. Poland is being held at the Burbank Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, Quesada said.

Casey Grimm had never been inside a bubble . But Saturday, he got the chance. "It was cool, because you're in between all these colors," the 7-year-old said after being picked as one of several volunteers in the Fun and Discovery with Bubbles show at the Burbank Town Center on Saturday afternoon. The 30-minute show was just one in many planned activities at the Burbank Town Center throughout weekends in July as part of Summer Fest. "We try to focus on culture, kids and family," Marketing Coordinator Sally Truong said.

ONGOING WEDNESDAY Providence St. Joseph Medical Center presents a health care lecture from 9 to 10 a.m. at the Burbank Town Center, 201 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank. Speakers will provide participants with a walking program to improve fitness and lose weight. For more information, call (818) 847-4550. Seniors 55+ can have their blood pressure checked from 9:30 to 11 a.m. the first Wednesday of each month at the Don Tuttle Senior Center, 1731 N. Ontario St., Burbank.

CITY CENTER — Police arrested a 45-year-old man suspected of raping an unconscious 24-year-old man this weekend in his Burbank apartment before fleeing with his laptop, police said. Richard Scott Poland, of Burbank, was arrested Thursday somewhere within the Burbank Town Center in the 200 block of East Magnolia Boulevard and booked on charges of sodomy and grand theft. Police also recovered the stolen computer, Burbank police Sgt. Robert Quesada said. Poland is being held at the Burbank Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, Quesada said.

The Glendale Galleria on Black Friday was teeming with shoppers at midnight, some from as far away as Mexico, in search of early-bird deals. When the mall officially opened at 5 a.m., caffeinated, sleepy-eyed shoppers continued their quest to finish their holiday spending spree before the sun had even risen. Ruth Sicat, of Burbank, took a break to rest her tired feet. Shoes off, she surrounded herself with her shopping bags on a bench in a busy walkway in the Galleria. “I have most of my holiday shopping done, but there’s still more to do,” she said.

GLENDALE — Retailers are bracing for a tough holiday shopping season in which sales figures in the region could decline as shoppers continue to weather an economic storm that has torpedoed personal spending, analysts said Monday. National and local organizations project a 1% to 4% drop in usual holiday sales figures, which could sink profit margins at regional malls including the Americana at Brand, Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center. “We think that the region is looking forward to a rather dismal Christmas,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp.

In its second year, the Taste of Burbank Thursday night was a rousing success. It not only raised funds for a great cause -- the Burbank YMCA -- but also brought people together for a fabulous evening, creating a great sense of community spirit. More than 30 restaurants in the Downtown Burbank area set up booths along San Fernando Boulevard from Magnolia Boulevard to Orange Grove Avenue. Babies, children, parents, grandparents and even pets were seen strolling along, trying delectable bites.

General Growth Properties, which operates the Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center, rejected a $10-billion bid Tuesday from rival Simon Properties Inc. that could have brought the firm out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. General Growth had considered the offer over the last week, before Simon Properties made the bid public, but in a response Tuesday said it had determined the offer was “not sufficient to preempt the process we are undertaking to explore all avenues to emerge from Chapter 11 and maximize value for all the company’s stakeholders.

The Glendale Galleria on Black Friday was teeming with shoppers at midnight, some from as far away as Mexico, in search of early-bird deals. When the mall officially opened at 5 a.m., caffeinated, sleepy-eyed shoppers continued their quest to finish their holiday spending spree before the sun had even risen. Ruth Sicat, of Burbank, took a break to rest her tired feet. Shoes off, she surrounded herself with her shopping bags on a bench in a busy walkway in the Galleria. “I have most of my holiday shopping done, but there’s still more to do,” she said.

General Growth Properties Inc., the operator of the Glendale Galleria and the Burbank Town Center, reported on Monday that its first-quarter revenues were down from their already depressed levels of a year ago. The announcement came as the company worked to restructure its debt and emerge from bankruptcy protection. The Chicago-based firm’s revenues fell about 6.5%, to $761 million, compared with the first quarter of 2009. The tenant occupancy rate at its more than 200 regional malls slipped to 90.5%, down from 90.9% in the first three months of 2009, according to the company.

An aggressive bidding war for the operator of the Burbank Town Center and Glendale Galleria may be in the works after the company filed a reorganization plan last week in bankruptcy court, a move that has brought the local malls a step closer to full health, experts said. The plan from General Growth Properties Inc. would allow it to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as two independent companies with the backing of $6.55 billion from three investors, the firm said. But more than establishing its own restructuring plan, the filing sets the stage for other firms, like rival Simon Properties Inc., to make takeover bids.

DOWNTOWN — General Growth Properties Inc., the operator of the Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center, announced late Wednesday that it agreed to a $2.65-billion deal that would give a Canadian commercial real estate firm a 30% stake in the company. The deal with Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, which still has to be finalized, would pull General Growth out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. Chicago-based General Growth is the nation’s second-largest regional mall operator, with more than 200 properties nationwide, including the largest retail destinations in Glendale and Burbank.

General Growth Properties, which operates the Glendale Galleria and Burbank Town Center, rejected a $10-billion bid Tuesday from rival Simon Properties Inc. that could have brought the firm out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. General Growth had considered the offer over the last week, before Simon Properties made the bid public, but in a response Tuesday said it had determined the offer was “not sufficient to preempt the process we are undertaking to explore all avenues to emerge from Chapter 11 and maximize value for all the company’s stakeholders.

General Growth Properties Inc., which owns the Glendale Galleria and operates the Burbank Town Center, filed a plan Wednesday in bankruptcy court to restructure terms for $9.7 billion in secured mortgage loans in the hopes of relieving its debt obligations. The Chicago-based firm, which owns more than 200 malls nationwide, filed for bankruptcy protection in April and has tried to alleviate its debt obligations, and those related to 158 regional shopping malls, by the end of the year.

CITY CENTER — Police arrested a 45-year-old man suspected of raping an unconscious 24-year-old man this weekend in his Burbank apartment before fleeing with his laptop, police said. Richard Scott Poland, of Burbank, was arrested Thursday somewhere within the Burbank Town Center in the 200 block of East Magnolia Boulevard and booked on charges of sodomy and grand theft. Police also recovered the stolen computer, Burbank police Sgt. Robert Quesada said. Poland is being held at the Burbank Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, Quesada said.

CITY CENTER ? Police today arrested a 45-year-old man suspected of raping an unconscious 24-year-old man this weekend in his Burbank apartment before fleeing with his laptop computer. Richard Scott Poland, of Burbank, was arrested Thursday somewhere within the Burbank Town Center on the 200 block of East Magnolia Boulevard and booked on charges of sodomy and grand theft. Police also recovered the stolen computer, Burbank Police Sgt. Robert Quesada said. Poland is being held at the Burbank Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, Quesada said.