Back in November we mentioned that General Growth Properties, the owners of several Washington malls including Westlake Center, had hired legal help to deal with mounting bills. Another deadline passed on March 16--GGP was trying to persuade creditors holding $2.25 billion of its unsecured notes wait for payment until the end of 2009--and now hedge fund investor William Ackman is pushing for a seat on the board of GGP, and predicting that bankruptcy is the only way to go. What that means for Westlake and GGP's other Washington properties is anyone's guess, as the real estate market is not exactly hopping. more ›

Yesterday we mentioned the scuttlebutt about malled-up REIT General Growth Properties putting Westlake Center up for sale. Today GGP stocks were hammered after the company announced it "might be forced to seek protection from its creditors as it struggles to refinance debt," and are now trading at around $0.40 in after-hours trading. GGP has $958 million in debt due Dec. 1, but a "good price" for Westlake was quoted at just $150 million, so it's going to take more than that to right the REIT's ship. more ›