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

CHICAGO-General Growth Properties has about $1 billion in developments and redevelopments in its pipeline, executives said today during their Q3 earnings call. As part of that the REIT is opening eight new centers, most of them open-air, during the next three years.

Next fall General Growth is opening the 980,000-sf Pinnacle Hills Promenade, in Rogers, AR, and the 860,000-sf Otay Ranch Center, in Chula Vista, CA. The following year it will debut the Bridges at Mint Hill in North Carolina; Elk Grove (CA) Promenade and the Shops at Fallen Timbers, in Maumee, OH. In 2007 the Shops at Circle T Ranch, Westlake, TX; Summerlin Centre, in Las Vegas; and West Windsor (NJ) Town Center, are scheduled to open. And more new centers could open in 2009, executives said.

On top of the new centers, General Growth is undertaking about 20 redevelopments in its portfolio. Executives highlighted Natick Mall in Massachusetts, where the developer is adding a Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, small-shop space and two condominium towers, and Ala Moana Center, in Honolulu, which is getting a three-story, 200,000-sf Nordstrom.