The outlook for commercial real estate development continued to worsen in 2009, as one major name faltered and other companies
scrambled to redesign their business models and capitalize on the carnage.
General Growth Properties, the Chicago mall owner that Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. is interested in buying, said the company will consider all offers and may sell shares to the public to raise capital.
Wall Street analysts have described the potential sale of Chicago-based General Growth Properties as a “once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity” for a company to make “the deal of the decade” in the shopping-mall business.
Adding the 22-mall portfolio of Baltimore-based Prime Outlets will give Simon a total of 63 outlet malls with more than 25
million square feet of space.
Simon Property Group Inc. is doubling down on outlet malls with an agreement to buy Baltimore-based Prime Outlets, a
privately held firm that owns 22 of the giant properties.
The Indianapolis-based shopping mall owner is facing competition for General Growth from Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management Inc., which also has been buying up General Growth’s debt.
General Growth Properties Inc., the nation’s second-largest shopping mall operator, said lenders have agreed
to restructure about $9.7 billion in debt. The agreements could put a damper on the acquisition aspirations of rival Simon
Property Group Inc.
Simon Property Group Inc. may sell several of its properties in Europe to help raise funds for a possible bid for bankrupt
rival General Growth Properties.
General Growth is the second-largest U.S. mall owner, trailing only Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, with more than
200 regional malls in 44 states.
Those in the trenches say this won’t be a blockbuster Christmas, but it won’t be horrid, either.
Simon Property Group Inc. reported slightly higher funds from operation for its fiscal third quarter, but FFO fell on a per-share
basis thanks to the company’s issuance of more than 50 million new shares so far this year.
Vacancies at U.S. shopping malls and retail strip centers have climbed to steep levels, a trend that Indianapolis-based commercial
real estate companies Simon Property Group Inc. and Kite Realty Group Trust haven’t been able to dodge.
Bren Simon likely will inherit at least one-third of her billionaire husband’s fortune and potentially much more,
wealth managers speculate, based on the legal and tax issues involved in such a large estate.
Former President Bill Clinton described Melvin Simon as one of the most remarkable people he’s ever met as he gave a eulogy
today during the funeral for the billionaire shopping mall developer and Indiana Pacers co-owner.
Melvin Simon, who died at 82 on Sept. 16, grasped early on that creation of the nation’s interstate system would pave the way for
large, enclosed shopping centers.
The passing of Mel Simon adds more uncertainty to the Indiana Pacers’ future in Indianapolis.
A Friday funeral is planned for a man who made a fortune building shopping malls across the U.S. and later became a prolific
philanthropist in his adopted hometown of Indianapolis. Melvin Simon, 82, succumbed this morning after a battle with pancreatic
cancer.
Melvin Simon, a tailor’s son who earned billions building shopping malls across the U.S. and later became a prolific
philanthropist in his adopted hometown of Indianapolis, has died. He was 82.
Two Anderson siblings are buying the city’s Mounds Mall from the Florida-based company that has owned it for the past six
years.
Simon Property Group Inc. has managed to grow revenue tenfold since going public 16 years ago. The key has been well-timed acquisitions.
