CHICAGO-General Growth Properties has beefed up its third-party management leasing business with the addition of three centers totaling two million sf. The centers are the 75,000-sf Kings' Shops in Kona, HI; the 1.1-million-sf Metrocenter Mall in Jackson, MS; and the 900,000-sf Alexandria (LA) Mall.

Kings' Shops, which has three dozen shops and restaurants, is planned for expansion. Kings' is the fourth center that General Growth manages as a third party. The company also manages Queen Ka'ahumanu Center in Kahului and Whalers Village in Lahaina, both on the island of Maui, and Windward Mall in Kaneohe on Oahu.

Metrocenter Mall is Mississippi's largest enclosed mall. McRae's and Sears anchor the center, which has more than 120 specialty retailers. It is General Growth's sole presence in the state.

Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Mervyn's, Sears, Steinmart, Weiss-Goldring and Stage anchor Alexandria Mall, which is the only regional mall in a 90-mile radius. General Growth owns seven malls in Louisiana.

The three centers, owned by different companies, bring General Growth's third-party management duties to 30 centers across the country. The company as of late has been on a buying spree. Last year, GGP completed one of the largest retail REIT transactions in the industry's history, when it purchased the Rouse Co. and its 150 properties for $12.6 billion. In all, General Growth owns 209 regional shopping centers.