Valerie McNeal, CDPE, CRS, GRI,

Nearly $3.1 billion in debt, General Growth Properties plans to sell Baltimore's Harborplace & The Gallery to avoid bankruptcy

By Andrea K. Walker | andrea.walker@baltsun.com

Since its opening in 1980, Harborplace has been one of the top destinations - for residents and tourists alike - in the Baltimore metro area. In a 12-month period ending Sept. 30, the 544,453- square-foot property, which includes Harborplace and The Gallery (across Pratt Street), generated nearly $114 million in retail sales. (Baltimore Sun photo by Monica Lopossay / December 18, 2008)

Harborplace & The Gallery, the shopping and entertainment development that was central to Baltimore's downtown renaissance, is for sale as its landlord faces pressure to raise cash to avoid bankruptcy.

The New York investment bank DTZ Rockwood posted materials on its Web site yesterday saying that it had been hired by Chicago-based General Growth Properties to sell its Festival Marketplace Portfolio, which includes the 28-year-old Baltimore development, Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and South Street Seaport in New York.

General Growth, which owns more than 200 shopping malls in 44 states, said last month that it was trying to sell properties as it faced nearly $3.1 billion in maturing debt next year. General Growth's woes stem in part from its $11.3billion purchase of the Columbia-based Rouse Co. in 2004. General Growth, which owns several other local malls, is Columbia's master developer.

This marks the first time since General Growth's debt announcement last month that an area mall has been shopped publicly for sale. A General Growth spokesman confirmed that the company is looking for investment opportunities for Harborplace but did not provide specifics.

"Harborplace is among a group of properties for which General Growth is seeking partners, investors or buyers," spokesman David Keating said in an e-mail yesterday. "This is a part of our company's effort to reduce debt and improve our balance sheet."

But retail brokers and analysts said the difficult retail and credit environment could make it a challenge to sell the properties, despite its prime downtown waterfront location. The properties generated nearly $114million in retail sales for the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, according to DTZ Rockwood marketing materials. DTZ listed more that $102million each in sales for South Street Seaport and Faneuil Hall.

A DTZ spokesman declined to comment yesterday. It is unclear whether the properties would be sold individually or as a group.

"In this climate, I think everything is hard," said Geoffrey Mackler, a principal with H&R Retail. "The fact is that most banks are closed for business. You can't get a loan [or] any loan you can get now is going to be short-term. And the bank requirements are very, very strict. I do believe it's a great piece of property if there are people out there with either huge funds ... or who can get financing."

It seems like folks should really learn a lesson. People are still trying to fraud others out of their equity in this market after so many have already gotten in trouble.... its not worth the risk.

Tricia Bishop

The head of a Lanham, MD company that promised to help people facing foreclosure but instead used their homes to steal millions of dollars through a series of complicated mortgage fraud schemes pleaded guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Jennifer McCall, the 47-year-old chief executive of Metropolitan Money Store Corp. is the fifth of eight defendants in the case to plead guilty. According to a statement of facts attached to her plea agreement, McCall, her husband and other conspirators talked homeowners into turning their property titles over to a third party while Metropolitan Money Store helped them repair their credit ratings and obtain better mortgage rates. But the company and affiliated businesses in Prince George's County used the properties to apply for loans, extract equity from the homes and charge fees for services that were never performed

IRS to help homeowners refinance or sell homes

December 17, 2008

WASHINGTON The Internal Revenue Service said yesterday that it will try to make it easier for homeowners in financial straits to refinance or sell their homes. The plan announced by IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman would speed up a process in which a financially distressed homeowner may request that a federal tax lien be made secondary to liens by the lending institution that is refinancing or restructuring a loan. Taxpayers will also be able to ask the IRS to discharge, or remove, its claim to a property in certain circumstances where the property is being sold for less than the amount of the mortgage lien. Shulman said the program will focus on people who ordinarily pay their taxes but are hurt by the recession.

Fannie Mae to provide relief to renters, Baltimore Sun, December 15, 2008

In a move that provides relief to thousands of renters who face eviction but draws the federal government even deeper into the housing market, the loan giant Fannie Mae said yesterday that it would sign new leases with renters living in foreclosed properties owned by the company. It is the first nationwide effort to provide widespread relief to renters ensnared by the unfolding mortgage crisis, and it will effectively transform Fannie Mae - a government-controlled mortgage finance company - into a national landlord. It may also increase pressure on private lenders to establish similar programs and on lawmakers to pass renter relief. "There are renters all around the country who have been holding up their end of the bargain and paying their rent faithfully, but the landlord got into trouble, and so the renter is now unfairly facing eviction," said John Taylor, president of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. "It's really good news that Fannie Mae is doing this. Now the question is whether private sector will follow suit."

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. ZIP Code Statistics - <$100K to >$5M Format

ZIP Code: 21133 Randallstown, MD
From: 11/01/2008 to 11/30/2008 Statistics generated on: 12/08/2008

Source: Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc. - MLS Resale Data
Copyright 2008 - Information deemed reliable, but is not guaranteed.