The Howard County Council should discontinue consideration of the General Growth Properties plan (council bills 58 and 59) for rezoning downtown Columbia. Most of the vacant land in downtown Columbia is currently owned by GGP. But GGP is in bankruptcy.

Moreover, it is the subject of a bidding war between at least two major shopping mall operators. Brookfield Asset Management (Toronto) and Simon Property Group Inc. (Indianapolis) have both expressed strong interest in buying some or all of bankrupt GGP's assets. ("Brookfield, Simon Circle GGP," Wall Street Journal, Dec. 4). No one can predict who will own these properties in the very near future.

The only beneficiaries of precipitate enactment of GGP's zoning plan would be the officers and stockholders of GGP, who stand to see their Columbia assets appreciate by as much as a billion dollars if the downtown zoning they have proposed is enacted. The Howard County Council should terminate its deliberations on the GGP proposal and allow CB 58 and CB 59 to expire. The council should then direct the Department of Planning and Zoning to develop a plan for downtown Columbia which aims to protect and advance the interests of Howard County's citizenry, not those of a bankrupt corporation.

County Council members need to hear from their constituents this week.

Michael Berla

Wilde Lake

user comments (5)

user kungpao says...

Michael, your argument is weak. For one thing, there are HoCo residents who also own stock in GGP (of which I am one). Therefore, you commit a logical fallacy when you conclude that the GGP plan can't possibly benefit both HoCo residents AND the corporation/shareholders. More importantly, though, your argument lacks substance. What is it exactly about bankruptcy that disqualifies a corporation, its officers, its shareholders etc. from proposing alternative uses of a resource (in this case, land) that they own? You seem to imply that the state of bankruptcy alone makes them unfit to offer a plan, as if "bankruptcy=bad" therefore "proposal of bankrupt company=unworthy of consideration". In addition to the bankruptcy issue, you mention the prospect of GGP being bought by a competitor. Here you imply that because we can't predict who will own a portfolio of properties at some point in the future we should dismiss the current proposal of the current owner out of hand. Of course, the Columbia assets now belonging to GGP once belonged to the esteemed Rouse Company, and those assets seem to have held up fairly well since GGP acquired them (otherwise, why would a third party now be interested in buying them yet again). Let me ask you: if you came to the Wilde Lake Architectural Committee with a proposal to build a fence around your back yard, should they dismiss your request merely because someone from out of town might buy your house next year and decide to paint that fence blue?

Posted 4:47 PM, 12.11.09 | Permalink

user commonsenseplease says...

Very good post by kungpao! As for the letter itself, Mr. Berla sure is quite the expert on corporate finance and bankruptcy isn't he. He and Mugane and Russell could all start a financial consuting firm! His letter is so naive and inaccurate it could have been written by an 8th grader. GGP has the right to build more than a dozen office buildings, expand the Mall and construct all kids of other commercial projects around Town Center right now. And if we start this process and these dimwits suggest and the company does end up being sold, we'll end up with exactly the type of development that we don't want. It is CRITICAL that we get this plan in effect before any sale occurs. The fact is that Berla and his gang hate all developers and will resort to any lies and slurs needed to kill this redevelopment plan.

Posted 9:11 PM, 12.11.09 | Permalink

user wildelakemike says...

Another point that Mr. Berla makes (as have others on the HCCA listserv and elsewhere) is that somehow GGP is magically going to benefit by billions of dollars if the requested zoning for downtown Columbia is approved. This is, of course, naive as well. The zoning will allow GGP to make the necessary investments to allow for additional constuction of residences, retail and commercial spaces. The infrastructure and amenities alone will be significant. As are the interest carry costs and other development costs associated with this development. Finally, there are the normal risks associated with any land development. No one is giving GGP anything on a silver platter. GGP invested in Columbia when it purchased The Rouse Company, and GGP has continued to invest heavily in Columbia ever since. If there is profit to be made over a 30 year period, GGP will deserve it, especially if we get the kind of community so many of us have wanted ever since the days Jim Rouse first started selling the concept of a New City.

Posted 8:36 AM, 12.14.09 | Permalink

user tom3 says...

Brookfield Asset Management (Toronto) and Simon Property Group Inc. (Indianapolis) are both "mall operators". They are not interested in any of GGP's "community properties."

Posted 5:28 PM, 12.16.09 | Permalink

user howardguy says...

tom3, Brookfield is not a "mall operator." They "own and manage one of the largest portfolios of both premier office properties and hydroelectric power generation facilities as well as transmission and timberland operations, located in North and South America and Europe."

Posted 8:13 PM, 12.16.09 | Permalink