General Growth Properties, Inc. operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust. It operates through two segments, Retail and Other, and Master Planned Communities. The Retail and Other segment operates, develops, and manages retail and other rental properties, primarily shopping centers in the United States, as well as festival market places, urban mixed-use centers, and strip/community centers. This segment also owns non-controlling interests in various international joint ventures in Brazil, Turkey, and Costa Rica. As of December 31, 2007, it had ownership interest in or management responsibility for a portfolio of approximately 200 regional shopping malls in 45 states. The Master Planned Communities segment develops and sells land, primarily in large-scale, long-term community development projects in Columbia, Maryland; Summerlin, Nevada; and Houston, Texas. The company qualifies as a real estate investment trust for federal income tax purposes. It would not be subject to federal corporate income taxes, provided it distributes at least 90% of its taxable income to its stockholders. The company was founded in 1986 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.
