NEW YORK — A group of lenders accused shopping mall operator General Growth Properties of including eight properties in its bankruptcy filing that do not need court protection.
NEW YORK — A group of lenders accused shopping mall operator General Growth Properties of including eight properties in its bankruptcy filing that do not need court protection. The shopping centers, including the Tucson Mall in Arizona and the Stonestown Mall in San Francisco, are financially stable and do not need to be rehabilitated through a Chapter 11 reorganization, according to a filing Monday by ING Clarion Capital Loan Services LLC, a loan administrator. The creditors claimed General Growth had "swept" the properties into bankruptcy to benefit from their slightly better financial condition. General Growth filed for protection from creditors last month in the largest U.S. real estate bankruptcy case in history. The Chicago-based real estate investment trust has $27 billion in debts. The malls in question are in San Francisco, Bakersfield, and Visalia, Calif.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Tucson, Ariz.; Bartlesville, Okla.; and Murray, Utah. "When a debtor has no current need for relief under the bankruptcy code, its case should be dismissed under the rubric of a ‘bad faith’ filing," court papers read. General Growth Properties Inc. spokesman David Keating said he had no comment because he had not yet seen ING’s request. The company owns Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, Coral Ridge Mall in Coralville, Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs and Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids. ______ Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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