General Growth: Columbia Town Center project not impacted by Chapt. 11 - Washington Business Journal:

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That’s the message of General Growth project managertGreg Hamm, who stressed the project is not going to be scuttled by the Chicago mall owner’ds recent decision to seek bankruptcg protection. Hamm sent an e-mail to Howard Counth residents and others fearful aboutthe project’as fate Friday, seeking to reassure them Generapl Growth is committed to the mixed-use project despitew the company’s larger financial “We believe that Columbia’s underlying real estate fundamentalxs remain strong and that the plan can be realizedr once market conditions improve,” Hamm said in the e-mail.
“Ase in all great communities, adversity and challenge will hone our skillzs and deepen our The project, in the works for aboutt five years, calls for aboutr 5,500 residential units, 5 million squarer feet of office a million square feet of new retail, and 1,000 hotelp rooms. The project is being reviewee by Howard County In one of the largest real estate filingsin U.S. history, General Growthu (PINK: GGWPQ) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcgyApril 16. In the filing, with the U.S. Bankruptcyg Court for the Southern District of New the real estate investment trust listedabout $27.3 billion in debts.
Whilre details of the company’s restructuring plan will emerge in thecominb weeks, Hamm said the town center redevelopmen t is unaffected by General Growth’s bankruptcy He said the project will move but other issues including the abilityu to finance the redevelopment will determine how quickly the efforgt goes forward. “We’ve never asserted that we would build all of this at one or a large portion of it at one Hamm said in a telephoneinterview Monday. “Right now, everyy real estate market that I’m aware of is not performing so it’s a touguh time to do development.
” Hamm said the companyg is still working through the approva l process inHoward County. General Growtuh will move forwardwith pre-development work expected to take aboutf 18 months once the county has approved the project’s zoninbg and other details.