According to Rockwood managing director Frank Sullivan, who led the negotiations on behalf of TIAA, the deal was completed in less than 50 days. "The reason we were able to get it done so quickly is that we prepared so carefully," he says. "All the due diligence material was digitalized, so we were able to provide information that was fairly complete. And we didn't run into any problems with people confirming information." Sullivan notes that TIAA sold the loans "for portfolio balance purposes and to take advantage of market conditions."

Rockwood's Mark DeLillo and Brian Dowd assisted Sullivan in the negotiations. Mike DeMarco and Scott Weiner represented Lehman.

The assets, all owned and operated by General Growth Properties, include Mall of the Bluffs in Council Bluffs, IA, a 666,427-sf enclosed single-level center built in 1986 with 92 stores and 2,653 parking spaces; Birchwood Mall in Port Huron, MI, a 13-year-old single-level enclosed property with 782,663 sf of leasable space, 107 retail stores and parking for 4,105 vehicles; the 815-322-sf Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire, WI (the largest regional shopping center in western Wisconsin), which features 125 stores and 4,483 parking spaces; and Pierre Bossier Mall in Bossier City, LA, a 611,098-sf single-level enclosed center with 90 stores and 4,048 parking spaces.