Pursuing an opportunity it saw last spring following the merger of Federated Department Stores and May Co., General Growth Properties is talking with the former about buying back a handful of anchor properties with an eye to converting the space to mixed-use or lifestyle retail space, reports chief operating officer Robert Michaels. Some of the redundant Federated and May spaces at General Growth Properties already has been leased to other retailers, he notes.

In addition, the company has acquired six former Mervyn's stores and plans to talk to that chain about other locations, Michaels adds. Lord & Taylor locations also may be in play, he suggests. "The inventory is large, and a lot of these present new opportunities for us," Michaels says. "We feel we can do a lot better with that space."

General Growth Properties has $709.3 million in 20 redevelopment and expansion projects, led by the $170.1-million mixed-use project at Victoria Ward Centers in Honolulu, expected to be completed by the end of 2007. In addition, the REIT is building seven developments totaling $1.3 billion, led by the $600 million it has committed to pay for the Shoppes of Palazzo, part of the expansion of the Venetian hotel. Closer to home, General Growth Properties is spending $41.7 million in the north suburbs building Lincolnshire Commons.