General Growth, a real estate investment trust, says it is in due diligence to acquire the property in a 50-50 joint venture with an institutional investor. The deal is expected to close in late November.

The Chicago-based REIT, one of a number of prospective buyers known to have been interested in the Galleria, will acquire the mall from an ownership group including Costa Mesa, Calif.-based shopping center developer and manager Donahue Schriber, the New York State Teachers pension fund, and Cigna. Donahue Schriber officials could not be reached for comment.

The 250-store shopping center is considered a trophy property and one of the region's most successful malls, with an estimated $525 per sf in annual sales. It was constructed in two phases, in 1976 and 1983. Its anchors include Macy*s, Nordstrom, JCPenney, Mervyn's and Robinsons-May, and it features a special, 15,000-sf shopping area called "The Zone" that was developed at a cost of $2.5 million and opened in July 2000 to appeal to youths and teens aged 8 to 18. The Zone was created by Donahue Schriber, a 30-year-old firm that has developed and redeveloped more than 15 million sf of retail projects. Donahue Schriber manages 68 centers comprising more than 14 million sf of retail space in the Western United States.

Buyer General Growth is the country's second largest shopping center owner, developer and manager of regional shopping malls. The REIT has ownership interests in or management responsibility for 168 regional shopping malls totaling approximately 146 million sf in 41 states.