Simon to operate some Mills malls separately

Seventeen of the 37 malls that Simon Property Group and a partner reaped by acquiring shopping mall owner The Mills Corp. will be operated as a "separate retail real estate platform," Simon said today.

The 17 properties merge traditional mall, outlet center, big box and entertainment uses, and will be managed and leased from an office in the Washington, D.C., area. Mills was based in Chevy Chase, Md., which is near the nation’s capitol. Support will be handled at Simon’s Indianapolis headquarters.

The new unit will be headed by J. Scott Mumphrey, a Simon executive vice president who has worked for the Indianapolis-based shopping mall giant for 27 years.

The other 20 are regional malls that will be managed by Simon.

The plans were disclosed in an announcement that Simon and San Francisco-based Ferallon Capital Management LLC closed the $1.6 billion acquisition April 3.