General Growth bankruptcy in the offing?

Elk Grove Promenade developer bankruptcy “a good possibility"


The credit crisis that is roiling international markets may soon force Elk Grove Promenade developer General Growth Properties (GGP) into bankruptcy according to one analyst.

In a story published in Crain's Chicago Business, analyst Rob Van Bergen of Transwestern Securities Management LLC, a Chicago-based money manager that invests in REITs, said a bankruptcy filing is “a good possibility.”

“They’re in a real bind,” he said Thursday. “I’m not sure they’re going to find anyone to buy their assets or really any bank to lend.”

Van Bergen's comments stem from the fact that GGP has $3.3 billion in debt that must be refinanced next year.

On the plus side, GGP's stock recovered yesterday as part of the broader market rally closing up 13%. GGP has dropped 66% since it's March, 2007 peak.