General Growth Properties, the shopping mall company behind South Street Seaport that is planning to exit bankruptcy in November, has hired Vornado Realty Trust’s Sandeep Mathrani as CEO, the company announced. Mathrani, 48, has been executive vice president in Vornado’s retail division for more than eight years. Before joining Vornado in 2002, Mathrani was an executive vice president of Forest City Ratner. He will take on the CEO role at General Growth at the beginning of the year, succeeding Adam Metz, who held the position since October 2008. General Growth, the second largest U.S. shopping mall owner, won court approval this month for the last stage of its restructuring, a year and a half after filing the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history when it was unable to refinance its debt. [Daily Herald]

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South Street Seaport

General Growth Properties, the bankrupt owner of U.S. shopping malls, including the South Street Seaport, has filed its proposed reorganization plan with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for t [more]

The South Street Seaport could be under new management if General Growth Properties’ bankruptcy exit plan with Brookfield Asset Management comes to fruition. General Growth, which has announced an agreement to reorganize with the help of $6.55 billion from Brookfield, Pershing Square Capital Management and Fairholme Capital Management, plus an additional $1.5 billion debt issuance, would split in two under the plan. The deal amounts to $15 a share, and is subject to bankruptcy court approval. Shareholders would also get 34 percent ownership in the reorganized General Growth Properties, which would focus on shopping malls, and 86 percent equity in its new spin off, General Growth Opportunities, which would own real estate properties like the South Street Seaport, the company said. The company is still exploring other deal options as it has until July 15 to finalize the terms of its reorganization, said Adam Metz, General Growth’s CEO. Those include a $10 million proposal from competitor Simon Property Group, which has been soundly rejected, though Simon is reportedly prepping another, higher offer. [Bloomberg]