General Growth Properties Inc,the second-largest US mall owner,declared bankruptcy on Thursday in the biggest real estate failure in US history. Ending months of speculation,General Growth,along with 158 of its 200-plus US malls,filed Chapter 11 while it tries to refinance its debts. But the ongoing global financial crisis made it impossible for General Growth to restructure outside of bankruptcy and could signal further troubles for other financial institutions who are General Growth creditors. The collapse underscores the pressure on US commercial real estate with few sources of available funding. The company received approval on Thursday from federal bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper to use its cash collateral to operate its businesses during bankruptcy. Chicago-based General Growth,which owns such valuable properties as South Street Seaport in New York,Fashion Show in Las Vegas and Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston,listed total assets of $29.56 billion and total debts of $27.29 billion. The collapse marks a sad chapter for a company that has been growing since 1954,when brothers Martin and Matthew Bucksbaum decided to expand their family's grocery business and build a shopping center in Cedar Rapids,Iowa.
