General Growth Properties Sells Stake in Mall for $410 Million; Enters into Partnership with TIAA-CREF

General Growth Properties Inc (GGP), a popular Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), has sold its stakes in the famous Grand Canal Shoppes Mall and the Shoppes at the Palazzo in Las Vegas for a good $410 million, according to Bloomberg.

General Growth Properties, which owned the mall completely, sold 50 percent of the stake to TIAA-CREF, a national financial services organization for the aforementioned price, thus entering into a partnership deal.  The partnership is limited to the retail portions only. TIAA-CREF is basically a financial services firm that is looking to expand its investments in real estate. For now, it has around $33 billion in private real estate investments in America, Western Europe and Canada.

The press statement reads:

"Effective with the partnership formation, GGP and TIAA-CREF will each own approximately 50 percent of The Grand Canal Shoppes. The partnership is limited to the retail portion of the property. Prior to the formation of the partnership, GGP owned 100 percent of the property. The transaction generated approximately $410 million of net proceeds, and GGP will continue to provide management and leasing services."

The Grand Canal Shoppes Mall is a 774,000 square feet glossy glass mall located in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. The property is 99 percent leased and comprises of affluent retail brands, the anchor tenant being the fashion brand, Barneys New York. The mall generates sales of about $1000 per square feet.

General Growth Properties is America's second largest mall operator. The company has around 143 properties spread across 42 states including the world's largest open air mall, The Ala Moana Center in Hawaii.

The company was almost on the verge of bankruptcy two years ago when Blackstone Group LP rescued it. Blackstone recently sold its shares in GGP that it held in four separate funds. Following Blackstone's sale, Joh Schreiber, director of GGP, also sold some of his stock for around $536 million, reports NASDAQ. GGP also recently declared common stock dividend of $0.12 per share, which will be payable on July 30, 2013, to shareholders of record until July 16, 2013, reports 4-Traders.com.