less-than-$1 basement.

Officials at GGP released a statement this morning thatconfirmed the company has hired Sidley in an advisory role, and hasnot filed for bankruptcy. "As we've stated all along, we arelooking at multiple options to address our current financialsituation, among them being continuing to work with our syndicateof lenders on loan extensions," according to the statement. "Thehiring of such a law firm is standard for any company faced withfinancial challenges and should not be interpreted any other way."A trust spokesman refused further comment, and a spokeswoman forSidley said her client could not confirm or deny any informationregarding GGP.

The mall REIT has warned it may be forced to declare bankruptcy."Our potential inability to address our 2008 or 2009 debtmaturities in a satisfactory fashion raises substantial doubts asto our ability to continue as a going concern," the firm said in arecent quarterly report. The company has more than $900 million indebt scheduled to mature in December, and another $3 billion indebt scheduled to mature in 2009. It's rumored that the lenderswill extend the $900 million payment.