Businessweek

General Growth Properties, Inc., a real estate investment trust (REIT), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, operates, manages, develops, and acquires various properties, which are located primarily throughout the United States. Its operations are conducted through GGP Limited Partnership. The company has ownership interest in, or management responsibility for, approximately 200 regional shopping malls in 43 states, as well as ownership in master planned communities and commercial office buildings. Segments The company operates in two segments, the Retail and Other segment and the Master Planned Communities segment. Retail and Other Segment The Retail and Other segment engages in the operation, development, and management of retail and other rental property. Retail Portfolio: The Retail Portfolio consists primarily of regional shopping centers and also includes festival market places, urban mixed-use centers, and strip/community centers. It also owns non-controlling interests in various international joint ventures in Brazil, Turkey, and Costa Rica. Other Office, Industrial, and Mixed-Use Buildings: Office and other properties are primarily components of large-scale mixed-use properties (which include retail, parking, and other uses) located in urban markets. In addition, the company has certain free-standing office or industrial properties in office parks in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. and Las Vegas markets. The company owns approximately seven million square feet of leaseable office and industrial space, including properties adjacent to its retail centers. Master Planned Communities Segment The Master Planned Communities segment engages in the development and sale of land, primarily in large-scale, long-term community development projects in and around Columbia, Maryland; Summerlin, Nevada; and Houston, Texas; and its 215 unit residential condominium project located in Natick (Boston), Massachusetts. The company develops and sells land in these communities to builders and other developers for residential, commercial, and other uses. Tax Status The company has elected to be taxed as a REIT for federal income tax purposes under Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, it would not be subject to corporate level federal income tax on taxable income it distributes to its stockholders. History General Growth Properties, Inc. was founded in 1986.