GGP (company)

Overview

GGP Retail LLC

trade name	GGP
former name	General Management (1954–1970) General Growth Properties (1970–2017) GGP Inc. (2017–2018) Brookfield Properties Retail Group (2018–2026)
type	Subsidiary
industry	Commercial real estate
genre	Shopping malls
parent	Brookfield Properties (2018–present)
founded	1954 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States
founders	Martin Bucksbaum Matthew Bucksbaum Maurice Bucksbaum
hq location	350 North Orleans Street, Chicago, Illinois, United States
area served	United States
key people	Kevin McCrain (CEO)
revenue	$2.346 billion
revenue year	2016
net income	$1.272 billion
net income year	2016
assets	$22.732 billion
assets year	2016
equity	$8.635 billion
equity year	2016
owner	Brookfield Property Partners (2018–present)
num employees	1,200‡R1R‡
num employees year	2026
website	ggp.com

GGP Retail LLC (doing business as GGP; originally an initialism of General Growth Properties) is an American commercial real estate company. It was founded in 1954 and was the country's second-largest shopping mall operator at the time of its acquisition by Brookfield Property Partners and integration into Brookfield Properties in 2018. Brookfield reverted to the GGP brand for its American retail business in 2026.[2]

Founded by brothers Martin, Matthew and Maurice Bucksbaum in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, it moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1997.[3] In 2009, it filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the largest U.S. real estate firm to do so.[4] In 2018, its portfolio included 125 properties comprising about 121000000 sqft in 40 U.S. states, behind only

History

20th century

General Growth was founded in Iowa by three brothers, Martin, Matthew and Maurice Bucksbaum,[6] in 1954 as General Management.[7] That year, they borrowed $1.2 million to develop their first shopping center, Town & Country Shopping Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in order to open a fourth location for the grocery store founded by their father.[8]

By 1964, the company owned five malls and moved its headquarters to Des Moines, Iowa.[7] In 1970, General Management became General Growth Properties (GGP) and became a public company via an initial public offering.[7] In 1984, the company sold its holdings to Equitable Real Estate Investment Management for $800 million in the largest-ever single-asset real estate transaction to date, but retained the property management of the assets.[9] In 1989, the company acquired Center Companies, creating the fourth-largest shopping center management company in the United States.[10][11]

In 1993, the company once again became a public company via an initial public offering, raising $400 million.[11] In 1994, the company purchased a 40% interest in Centermark Properties from Prudential Financial.[12][13] In 1995, the company sold 25% of its 40% stake, yielding a profit of over $100 million. In 1995, the company also purchased the Homart Development Company from Sears for $1.85 billion.[14] In 1995, co-founder and CEO Martin Bucksbaum died and the company moved its headquarters from Des Moines to Chicago.[8][15] In 1999, John Bucksbaum succeeded his father as CEO.[16]

21st century

In 2000, the company moved its headquarters from Des Moines to Chicago.[7] The company occupied a historic building on North Wacker Drive designed by architectural firm Graham, Anderson, Probst & White, that was later demolished.[17] In 2004, the company acquired The Rouse Company, which owned 37 regional shopping malls and Howard Hughes Corporation, a land development company, for $7.2 billion in cash.[18][19] By 2008, the company had taken on $25 billion in debt and the company was facing required debt payments. John Bucksbaum was ousted as CEO, though he remained chairman of the board, and Adam Metz was named CEO.[16] In December 2008, hedge fund manager Bill Ackman disclosed a 25% ownership stake in the company.

GGP (company)

History

20th century

21st century

2018 acquisition by Brookfield Property Partners

See also

External links

References