Simon Property Group Inc (SPG)

[MWM]

Vacancies at U.S. malls and shopping centers approached 10-year highs in the fourth quarter, and are set to rise further as declining retail sales put more stores out of business, research firm Reis Inc. said.

Regional mall vacancies rose to 7.1 percent last quarter, from 6.6 percent in the third quarter. It was the highest vacancy rate since Reis began tracking regional malls in 2000, as well as the largest quarter-to-quarter jump in vacancies, according to New York-based Reis.

At neighborhood and community shopping centers, the vacancy rate rose to 8.9 percent from 8.4 percent in the third quarter, the highest since Reis began publishing quarterly data in 1999.

Simon Property Group Inc., the biggest U.S. mall owner, which operates the Greendale Mall in Worcester, the Solomon Pond Mall in Marlboro and the Auburn Mall in Auburn, lost 435,000 square feet to bankruptcies last year through Sept. 30, up from 50,000 square feet in the same period a year earlier, Chief Executive Officer David Simon said in November. Simon’s multiyear leases protect the company to some extent from monthly changes in consumer spending, Simon said.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20090111...

Macy's becomes the Palm Beach Mall's second anchor store casualty in less than four months. Dillard's closed its Palm Beach Mall location in October.

With more than 50 percent vacancy at the mall, its future seems uncertain. The owner of the mall, Simon Property Group, did not comment.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28579435/