General Growth Properties, the nation’s second largest mall operator, is putting the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan up for sale, along with Harborplace in Baltimore and Faneuil Hall in Boston.
The company, which is struggling and billions of dollars in debt, said on Friday that it was looking at its options for the three popular tourist markets. This year, the company
unveiled a billion-dollar plan for the redevelopment of the South Street Seaport, which embraces several historic, cobblestoned blocks.
“South Street Seaport is among a group of properties for which General Growth is seeking partners, investors or buyers,” Jim Graham, a spokesman for General Growth, said in a statement released on Friday. “We intend to continue working with the city of New York on a plan for the property’s development that they and the community will embrace.”
In October, the Bloomberg administration picked a consortium led by General Growth to develop a 1.7 million-square-foot project in East Harlem that includes office and retail space, a hotel, cultural center and apartments. Mr. Graham said that the company still “looked forward to playing a role in the future of Harlem.”
But real estate executives say that the company has been offering to sell its position in the project.
“I can’t speak to that,” Mr. Graham said. “There’s no change in our status at this time.”
General Growth, which operates more than 200 malls in 44 states, has been laboring under heavy debts, including $900 million that was due by the end of the year. But with the credit markets largely frozen, General Growth like many other companies has found it virtually impossible to refinance its debt. This week, a group of lenders agreed to extend the deadline for repayment of a past due $900 million loan until Feb. 12.
Andrew Brent, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said on Friday:
We remain committed to the redevelopment of the Seaport, whether with General Growth Properties and new partners or with a different firm altogether should the property be sold. The company has indicated its preference is to stay with the project given its unique location and significant potential. General Growth is a non-lead party in a multi-entity development partnership that is building the East Harlem Media, Entertainment and Cultural Center. We are confident the project will continue to move forward, and we have established project milestones and financing requirements to ensure it does.
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