Shopping mall landlord and owner of the South Street Seaport, General Growth Properties refinanced its mortgage on the Staten Island Mall, the company announced today. It replaced a $273 million, 6.06 percent loan that was scheduled to mature in October 2015 with a new, 12-year fixed-rate loan for the same amount at a 4.77 percent rate. The transaction alleviates $125 million of corporate recourse connected to the previous mortgage. – Adam Fusfeld [more]

From left: 1500 Broadway and 1972 Broadway

Fitch Ratings said it downgraded 12 classes of a $2.75 billion Morgan Stanley
commercial mortgage loan pool, led by expected losses at 1500 Broadway, Lincoln
Square retail center and a retail mall near Orlando, Fla.
The largest contributor to the expected loss is Oviedo Marketplace, which
includes 435,000 square feet of a 953,000-square-foot regional mall in Oviedo,
Fla., located 15 miles northeast of Orlando. Fitch said the loan was transferred to
special servicing when General Growth Properties, one of the nation’s largest mall
operators, included the property in its bankruptcy filing.
The property was later taken over by CW Capital. [more]

Plans to redevelop the South Street Seaport are once again up for discussion, according to the Downtown Express. Its owner, the Howard Hughes Corporation, a spin-off of General Growth Properties, has acknowledged that it is reviving the plans, which include a hotel, a condominium tower and retail shops. In 2007, General Growth developed a plan to enhance public access to the waterfront at South Street Seaport, intending to create pedestrian-only streets that extend beyond the city grid. [more]

It’s no wonder hedge fund bigwig Bill Ackman put up such a fight for control of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village: he thought he could squeeze a “$2 billion potential profit opportunity” out of a co-op conversion at the massive complex, he told attendees of the Bloomberg Link Hedge Funds 2010 Conference yesterday. Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management and joint venture partner Winthrop Realty put $45 million into their purchase of $300 million worth of defaulted junior debt on the property earlier this year and had attempted to foreclose. [more]

From left: TIAA-CREF’s 685 Third Avenue, GGP’s South Street Seaport, RREEF’s 15 Madison Square North

ProLogis, the Denver, Co.-based public REIT with 479.7 million square feet of industrial space globally, is the top U.S. commercial property owner, according to a new survey from Businessweek.com. Coming in a distant second was mall owner Simon Property Group, which has 264 million square feet. (Simon’s bankrupt rival, General Growth Properties, was ranked fifth with 200 million square feet). [more]

General Growth Properties, owner of the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan, will file its Chapter 11 reorganization plan on or around July 9, Crain’s reported. General Growth asked for one extension until Oct. 18 to file the plan and another extension until Dec. 16 to solicit acceptances of any plan. The extra time would allow them to explore all financing options. The company, which also owns about 200 shopping malls nationwide, filed for Chapter 11 last April, the biggest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history. [Crain's]

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General Growth Properties, owner of the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan, will file its Chapter 11 reorganization plan on or around July 9, Crain’s reported. General Growth asked for one extension until Oct. 18 to file the plan and another extension until Dec. 16 to solicit acceptances of any plan. The extra time would allow them to explore all financing options. The company, which also owns about 200 shopping malls nationwide, filed for Chapter 11 last April, the biggest real estate bankruptcy case in U.S. history. [Crain's]

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Elizabeth Berger

A 28-year resident of Lower Manhattan who has worked in city government for years, Elizabeth Berger now advocates for the area’s economic well-being as head of the country’s biggest business improvement district. While the neighborhood is clearly more vibrant than in the early 1980s, lately it has struggled. Construction at the World Trade Center site is still years behind schedule. Office vacancy rates will hit 14 percent next year because financial companies have shuttered or moved. And as The Real Deal reported in March, 4 of the 11 new Manhattan developments with the most foreclosure filings are located below Canal Street. Plus, sales activity in the Financial District, which makes up most of the Downtown Alliance, is still sluggish compared with other Manhattan neighborhoods. In an interview with The Real Deal, Berger explained how to fill empty cubicles, why Lower Manhattan is a better corporate address than Midtown and the benefits of a live-work district. [more]

Even in bankruptcy, General Growth Properties is feeling pressure from New York City officials to pony up $500,000 in back rent it allegedly owes for South Street Seaport, according to the Wall Street Journal. The city has filed a court claim demanding payment, but General Growth is disputing the city’s stance for as-of-yet unknown reasons and plans to file its response to bankruptcy court soon. [more]

Still hoping that bankrupt mall owner General Growth Properties will have a change of heart, rival Simon Property Group has upped its takeover plan by $1.1 billion and added four financial backers to its proposal. General Growth, which balked at Simon’s $10 billion February buyout offer, has since backed a proposal by Brookfield Asset Management. The additional investment by Simon, which said last week it would match the terms of Brookfield’s proposal, comes on top of the $2.5 billion the company has already pledged, plus $1 billion from New York hedge fund Paulson & Co. ING Clarion Real Estate Securities, Taconic Capital Advisors, Oak Hill Advisors and Deutsche Bank AG’s RREEF unit will also join the plan. Critics have said a Simon takeover would raise antitrust issues. “Would Pepsi allow Coke to become its largest shareholder?” asked Cryus Madon, Brookfield’s senior managing partner. CEO David Simon is reportedly scheduled to meet with General Growth officials today in Chicago. [Bloomberg]