The Thursday, 2010 February 25, edition of The (Baton Rouge) Advocate, carried an article on page 6B titled, "Mall operator reaches deal." Why is this relevant to bicycling in Baton Rouge? The Mall's parent company, General Growth Properties Inc., has been in bankruptcy for at least the past year or so. BREC's first Capitol Area Pathway Project (C.A.P.P.) trail is intended to follow the stream bed of Dawson and Ward Creeks between Bluebonnet and Siegen Lane; this path is intended to extend beyond both of those roadways over time. The problem has been that the property from Bluebonnet to a point about half way along the proposed route is owned by the Mall. BREC has been working with the Mall to get a signed agreement for use of the property for the trail. So far, the Mall, actually the Mall's legal staff, has been responding very slowly to the process. Given that the parent company is in bankruptcy that comes as no surprise but, it is nonetheless frustrating. Now that General Growth Properties Inc. has reached a deal with Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc. the bankruptcy court judge has to review the offer and either approve or disapprove the deal. A hearing is set for Monday, March 01. If the deal is approved some General Growth Properties, Inc. properties will be transferred to a new company; none of General Growth Properties, Inc. are expected to be part of that transfer. So, if the deal is approved General Growth Properties, Inc. and their legal department may have a little more time to deal with the C.A.P.P. land agreement. If so, we may actually see some shovels in the ground before 2011. However, one of the sticking points in the agreement already in process is that the Mall wants to include an "escape clause" saying that at any time, with 30 days notice, they may abrogate the agreement and all land included in the agreement would return to the Mall. That, of course, would be a foolish thing to agree to. Discussions are ongoing. Look for updates as things progress, even at this glacial pace. To learn more about C.A.P.P. go to http://www.capp-online.org/index.html |
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BREC's C.A.P.P. trail at Mall of Louisiana may see movementposted Feb 25, 2010 7:06 AM by Mark Martin |