issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . may 2013 learn how and when to remove this template message this article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information . please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject s importance use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance . july 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message general growth properties inc. type public traded as nyse ggp s & p 500 component industry real estate investment trusts founded 1954 1954 founder martin bucksbaum matthew bucksbaum headquarters chicago illinois u.s. number of locations 120 u.s. locations area served 40 u.s. states key people j. bruce flatt chairman sandeep mathrani ceo revenue us 3.02 billion net income us 994 million 1 number of employees 1 600 website ggp.com footnotes references 2 general growth properties inc. is an american real estate investment trust headquartered at 110 north wacker drive in chicago illinois a historic building designed by architectural firm graham anderson probst & white . 3 it owns and manages shopping malls throughout the united states . contents 1 properties 2 history 3 company debt crisis 4 exit of bucksbaum family 5 bankruptcy 5.1 departing bankruptcy 6 spin off 7 see also 8 references 9 external links properties edit general growth properties owns or has interest in 120 regional shopping malls in forty states . general growth properties has been in the shopping center business for more than 60 years including such locations as ala moana center honolulu tysons galleria d.c. glendale galleria los angeles and water tower place chicago . the entire ggp portfolio totals roughly 125 000 000 square feet 11 600 000 m2 of retail space and includes more than 24 000 retail stores . these include international retailers and anchors as well as regional stores covering a range of categories . more than 1.8 billion consumers visit a ggp mall every year . ggp has centers in 37 of the top 50 metro areas in the u.s. more than half of ggp s portfolio is located in these markets including 32 properties in the top 10 u.s. markets . 4 general growth owns the largest open air shopping mall in the world ala moana center in honolulu hawai i. 5 6 7 ala moana center is also a flagship of a general growth properties tourism program called america s premier shopping places . it lists a number of tourist destinations that include water tower place in chicago . 8 history edit company s logo until november 2010 the company was founded by two brothers martin and matthew bucksbaum in 1954 . that year they opened their first shopping center town & country shopping center in cedar rapids iowa . 9 in 1960 general management opened its second center duck creek plaza in bettendorf iowa ; this was their first mall to have a department store younkers as an anchor . in 1970 general management became general growth properties ggp . two years later ggp became a publicly traded company on the new york stock exchange . however by 1984 management felt that the company s stock price did not fully reflect the value of its business . so management decided to sell the company s assets and take the company private . ggp sold 19 malls to equitable real estate investment management in an 800 million deal considered the largest single real estate transaction in the united states at that time but continued to manage the malls as part of the deal . ultimately shareholders realized a 22 % internal rate of return on their investment from the original initial public offering ipo through 1984 . ggp issued another public offering in 1993 to raise money for future expansion plans . in 1995 ggp moved its headquarters from des moines iowa to chicago . starting in 1993 ggp expanded its portfolio dramatically by acquiring existing properties and constructing new malls . in 1995 it acquired homart development company the mall development subsidiary of sears . 10 on november 13 2004 ggp acquired the rouse company including its howard hughes corporation land development subsidiary in the largest retail real estate merger in american history . ggp grew to be the nation s second largest mall operator . co founder and ceo martin bucksbaum died in 1995 . 11 he was succeeded as ceo by matthew bucksbaum . matthew retired in 1999 and was succeeded by his son john . company debt crisis edit ggp reported in excess of 25 billion in debt mostly mortgages as of september 30 2008 . in late november 2008 ggp missed a deadline to repay 900 million in loans backed by two las vegas retail properties . this meant that ggp lenders could issue a notice of default which would make ggp seek protection from its creditors under chapter 11 bankruptcy . in december 2008 the wall street journal reported that ggp would seek bankruptcy protection if it could not renegotiate its loans . 12 its share price had fallen by 97 % over the previous six months . exit of bucksbaum family edit the company s problems forced the ouster of ceo john bucksbaum though he remained chairman of the board . on october 26 2008 bucksbaum resigned . director adam metz became ceo . 12 the value of the bucksbaum family fortune shrank by 97 percent since december 2007 . 13 bankruptcy edit ggp failed to reach a deal with its creditors ; and on april 16 2009 filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy the largest real estate bankruptcy since at least 1980 and the largest ever filing by a mall operator . 14 15 according to its bankruptcy filing ggp had about 29.6 billion in assets at the end of 2008 and 27.3 billion in debt . ggp suspended its dividend halted or slowed nearly all development projects and cut its work force by more than 20 % . ggp also sold some of its non mall assets . chief executive adam metz said while we have worked tirelessly in the past several months to address our maturing debts the collapse of the credit markets has made it impossible for us to refinance maturing debt outside of chapter 11 . 16 ggp obtained 375 million in debtor in possession financing . 17 mall gift cards remained usable . 18 on february 24 2010 ggp finalized a deal with canadian property company brookfield asset management that would involve up to a 2.625 billion equity investment . departing bankruptcy edit ggp hired sandeep mathrani as its new chief executive and on november 8 2010 it left bankruptcy and offered new stock shares to the public . 19 unlike most chapter 11 bankruptcies existing general growth stockholders were not wiped out upon the company s exit from bankruptcy . citation needed the exit from bankruptcy included the creation of howard hughes corp. as a spinoff with each holder of a general growth share was scheduled to receive one share of new general growth stock and 0.0983 share of hughes corp. common stock . hughes corp. s assets will include summerlin a 22 500 acre 91 km2 master planned community in las vegas and south street seaport a shopping center in downtown manhattan . unlike general growth hughes corp. will not be a real estate investment trust according to a registration statement filed with the u.s. securities and exchange commission . 20 spin off edit in 2011 2012 general growth spun off 30 mall properties into a public company rouse properties inc. 21 the howard hughes corporation is another public company that spun off in november 2010 . 22 see also edit shopping property management firms landmark mall references edit http investor.ggp.com annuals.cfm http www.ggp.com about ggp overview 2 december 2008 chicago architecture info general growth properties page http www.ggp.com 19 september 2007 ala moana center press release 27 june 2007 travelvideo.tv article 13 december 2006 honolulu advertiser article 16 april 2009 america s shopping places website list of malls business record des moines december 2003 general growth properties inc. by stephen mcintire jim zarroli april 19 2009 . retail real estate braces for sell off . national public radio . retrieved march 7 2010 . general growth made a number of high profile acquisitions of shopping malls in every part of the country . some of general growth s biggest included the 1.85 billion acquisition of homart development co. from sears roebuck in 1995 said to be one of the largest real estate transactions in history at the time martin bucksbaum 74 pioneer in shopping center development a b frank robert ; kris hudson 2008 12 09 . dark days for mall dynasty the fallen bucksbaum family . the wall street journal . retrieved 2008 12 09 . harper s magazine general growth properties chapter 11 petition pdf . pacermonitor . pacermonitor . retrieved 9 june 2016 . e mail this 2009 04 16 . general growth properties files for bankruptcy dealbook blog nytimes.com . dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com . retrieved 2010 03 20 . 1 archived april 16 2009 at the wayback machine . expired story . chicago real estate daily . retrieved 2010 03 20 . john o boyle the star ledger 2009 04 16 . mall gift cards still good despite bankruptcy new jersey business . nj.com . retrieved 2010 03 20 . hudson kris november 1 2010 . new ceo at general growth properties gets his payday . the wall street journal . retrieved 2010 11 23 . ackman bets on general growth spinoff . crain s new york . bloomberg news . october 15 2010 . 2 pat larkin s value journal the howard hughes corporation hhc . patlarkinsvaluejournal.com . 2013 . retrieved 23 may 2013 . external links edit general growth s official website general growth s property locator map yahoo finance general growth properties counseling clients in the aftermath of general growth properties american bar association v t e general growth properties general growth owned malls v t e general growth properties of the midwestern united states illinois lincolnshire commons market place mall northbrook court oakbrook center water tower place indiana glenbrook square iowa coral ridge mall jordan creek town center michigan the crossroads lakeside mall rivertown crossings minnesota apache mall crossroads center eden prairie center ridgedale center river hills mall missouri columbia mall plaza frontenac saint louis galleria nebraska oak view mall westroads mall ohio beachwood place kenwood towne centre the shops at fallen timbers wisconsin fox river mall mayfair mall oakwood mall v t e general growth properties of the northeastern united states connecticut brass mill center the shoppes at buckland hills maine the maine mall massachusetts natick mall new jersey bridgewater commons paramus park willowbrook mall woodbridge center new york staten island mall pennsylvania neshaminy mall park city center rhode island providence place v t e general growth properties of the southern united states alabama riverchase galleria arkansas pinnacle hills promenade delaware christiana mall florida altamonte mall bayside marketplace coastland center governor s square mizner park the oaks mall pembroke lakes mall village of merrick park west oaks mall georgia augusta mall cumberland mall north point mall oglethorpe mall peachtree mall perimeter mall the shoppes at river crossing southlake mall kentucky florence greenwood mall mall st. matthews oxmoor center louisiana mall of louisiana oakwood center pecanland mall maryland harborplace the mall in columbia mondawmin mall towson town center white marsh mall north carolina carolina place mall four seasons town centre the streets at southpoint oklahoma quail springs mall