Brookfield Properties is renaming its retail division after the Chicago-based mall owner it acquired in 2018.
The retail division, renamed GGP after General Growth Properties, will not see any organizational change and will continue to be based at 350 N. Orleans St. in Chicago, Crain’s Chicago Business reported.
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The name change reflects how the retail division operates as an independent business within Brookfield.
“That DNA as a best-in-class owner-operator of iconic retail real estate assets was still there,” said Kevin McCrain, CEO of the retail business at Brookfield Properties, according to Crain's.
“And so we came back and said, ‘We have this fantastic brand. It’s a Chicago institution. Let’s go back to the beginning and relaunch our brand with a focus on the future.’”
GGP, formerly known as General Growth Properties, owned 122M SF worth of U.S. retail in 2018, putting it behind only Simon Property Group.
The division now has 101 U.S. retail properties, according to its online portfolio, including Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas, The Shops at La Cantera in San Antonio and Miami Design District.
Brookfield Property Partners, a subsidiary of Brookfield Asset Management, first invested in GGP by acquiring about 34% of the company in 2010 while the landlord was undergoing a bankruptcy reorganization. It paid $9.25B in cash for the rest of the company eight years later in a deal that valued the mall operator at $15.3B.
Brookfield committed $2.5B to property upgrades and intended to transform most of GGP’s 125 retail assets by adding residences, hotels and offices, though many plans were delayed by economic realities.
GGP has been based in Chicago since 1997 and now employs about 600 people. It recently extended its 124K SF lease at 350 N. Orleans St. for 15 years, per Crain’s.
The company has strong brand recognition in Chicago, where retailers never stopped using the name. The office and website have both been rebranded with GGP’s signature green.
“They used to wear green blazers,” Chief Marketing Officer Michelle Snyder said. “It’s kind of ingrained into the culture.”
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