The Great Recession is pounding once-bustling malls across Southern California and the nation, moreover. Case in point, General Growth Properties, the nation's second largest mall owner/operator, has announced it is bankrupt. GPP is seeking Chapter 11 protection in U.S. Bankrupcty Court.GPP's Northridge Fashion Center, the largest mall in northern Los Angeles County is assuring customers and tenants that, as general manager Danielle Gordon put it, "...the mall will be open today and tomorrow, and going forward."
What was interesting to me, however, was the fact that I did not ask Gordon if the mall was going to stay open. I only asked what impact there would be locally in the face of the parent company's Chapter 11 filing. In Chapter 11 bankruptcies, companies generally continue operating while they restructure their debt with the protection of the court from adverse actions by creditors. The $30 billion real estate investment trust is believed to owe more than $28 billion to its creditors.
