From left: Sandeep Mathrani, Alan Barocas and Andrew Perel
Mall owner General Growth Properties’ incoming CEO, Sandeep Mathrani, has appointed new members to his executive team, the Wall Street Journal reported. Alan Barocas, who spent 25 years at Gap before leaving in April 2006 to operate his own consultancy, will join General Growth to oversee leasing for its malls. General Growth also hired Richard Pesin — formerly executive vice president of retail development for real estate developer Forest City Ratner — as its executive vice president of anchor stores, development and construction. [more]

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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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]

General Growth Properties is receiving a $2.5 billion shot in the arm from Canadian property manager Brookfield Asset Management that will allow the shopping mall giant to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company announced today. Brookfield will invest the funds in exchange for a 30 percent stake in General Growth, the second largest mall owner in the country, whose portfolio includes the South Street Seaport. General Growth, which filed for the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history last year with $27 billion in debt, said shareholders would receive $15 per share in the deal, which is pending bankruptcy court approval. The company also plans to raise up to $5.8 billion in cash to repay its creditors and to create a new company for some of its existing assets. Last week, Indianapolis-based competitor Simon Property Group  offered to buy out General Growth for $10 billion, or $9 per share, including $9 billion in cash. General Growth dismissed the offer as low-ball. [AP via Crain's]