General Growth Properties Goes Bust

The inevitable Chapter 11 filing by General Growth Properties came April 16, achieving the dubious distinction of being the largest real estate bankruptcy ever (Donald Trump, eat your heart out).

Listing more than $27 billion in debt and more than $29 billion in assets, GGP has secured $375 million worth of debtor-in-possession financing to continue operations at its more than 200 malls as it reorganizes.

The Chicago-based company had just less than $170 million in cash holdings at the end of 2008 and was unable to refinance numerous debt obligations coming due this year, many related to its $11.3 billion acquisition of Rouse Company in 2004.

It’s been a rapid descent for GGP. The company’s stock traded as high as $44.13 just last spring but has slipped below a buck since the onset of the recession and financial meltdown that’s socked retail in the gut.

GGP is a 50-percent owner of the Pinnacle Hills Promenade in Rogers, which opened in 2006 with more than a million SF of commercial space.

The $100 million Promenade is a joint venture with the Pinnacle Group of Rogers and as such is not included in its Chapter 11 filing. While there will be no change in operations at the Promenade, GGP badly needs to raise some cash.

Pinnacle Group spokesperson John George told us in December that the company would “certainly” be interested if GGP wants to sell its stake.

“We know it’s a good deal,” George said at the time, but he couldn’t be reached for reaction before we went to press on this issue.