General Growth Properties

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.

The owner of the Glendale Galleria plans to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy as two companies in October, officials announced Monday. General Growth Properties Inc., which filed for bankruptcy last year, also announced that it had received assurances for as much as $8.5 billion in new capital, which would pay its debts in full. Out of the two-firm split, one called the "New GGP," would continue to own and operate shopping malls. The other, Spinco, would oversee master-planned and mixed-use communities, as well as mall development projects.

Josh Kleinbaum A Superior Court judge outlined a two-phase approach for a lawsuit challenging the approvals for a controversial mixed-use project in downtown Glendale. In a closed meeting in her chambers, Judge Dzintra Janavs told attorneys from plaintiffs General Growth Properties and Better Foods Land Investment Company, and the city of Glendale, the defendant, that she will first handle all issues not related to the environmental approvals, with a hearing expected for mid-January.

AT ISSUE: Should the city continue to spend money to fight General Growth's lawsuit? This weekend's News-Press headlined that the lawsuit brought by General Growth Properties has cost the city $1.7 million ("Americana suit's cost at $1.7 million," Saturday). Even though a citywide election, while close, has accepted the Americana decision, General Growth has not. We will not let their decision to continue to cost our city enormous amounts of money go without consequences.

Americana at Brand developer Rick Caruso on Tuesday said he would be interested in using a new joint $750-million investment fund to buy the rival Glendale Galleria. Caruso, a billionaire who also developed the Grove in Los Angeles, announced the joint venture with global investment firm TPG Capital on Tuesday, saying it would be tapped to buy and transform distressed properties into retail and mixed-use destinations. Although Caruso plans to spread his new investments along the West Coast, he said he was specifically interested in adding to his 475,000 square feet of commercial and retail property in Glendale and to his other developments in the Los Angeles region.

The Glendale Galleria has a new leader. General Growth Properties Inc. last week named Chris Bilotto as the new senior general manager at the landmark shopping center with 250 specialty stores and anchors including Nordstrom, Macy's JCPenney and Target. Bilotto previously managed General Growth's Arizona Center, a 250,000-square-foot shopping, entertainment and office complex in Phoenix. Bilotto takes over one of the largest centers in Southern California and one that some Glendale business leaders hope will get a bit of a makeover.

Rejection of General Growth Properties' claims has residents divided over issue. DOWNTOWN GLENDALE -- Shahan Kaprielian remembers how difficult it was to move his business across the street when the city closed-off a major portion of Downtown Glendale to make way for the Americana at Brand project. "Obviously I hated it," said Kaprielian, who owns The Great Carpet Company on South Brand Boulevard. "No one likes to move, especially when you've got all this merchandise." At this point, Kaprielian is anxious for construction to be over with.

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.

Gretchen Hoffman Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., the second-largest owner/operator of malls in the U.S., is reportedly buying the Glendale Galleria for $415 million. The 1.3-million-square-foot mall's owners -- CIGNA, New York State Teachers' Retirement System and private investment firm JSG, LLC -- quietly put the Galleria up for sale in July. JSG is partnered with Costa Mesa-based Donahue Schriber, which developed the mall in 1976.

Josh Kleinbaum Two buildings on the property of a proposed outdoor mall cannot be demolished until a Superior Court judge decides whether or not the buildings are historic. Judge Dzintra Janavs told the city that old Fire Station 21 and the Pacific Bell Building must be standing late this year, when she hears a lawsuit over the environmental approvals for the Americana at Brand. She also said the city could not transfer any property to developer Rick Caruso until the lawsuit is resolved.