Ian Ritter is national online editor for GlobeSt.com/RETAIL.

CHICAGO-Mall owner General Growth Properties, no stranger to redeveloping its assets, is looking at renovating and adding to 45 of its shopping centers at a cost of $1.4 billion, said CEO John Bucksbaum during its Q4 conference call yesterday. Last year, the company undertook 27 redevelopments at a cost of $380 million, which added 1.2 million sf to its portfolio.

"The mall remains a favorite destination for both the consumer and the retailer as long as we reinvest," Bucksbaum said. "We have expanded our ability to provide the retailers with what they want."

For the first time since acquiring the Rouse Co. in November for $12.6 billion, General Growth officials also announced that they intend to keep the four master-planned communities the company gained in that deal. Those developments are Columbia, MD; Summerlin in Las Vegas; Bridgelands in Houston; and Woodlands, near Houston. (While GGP owns the first three outright, it holds a partial interest in the Woodlands.)