"I'm pleased to tell you that our retail business is performingat a high level," said chairman and CEO John Bucksbaum during aconference call about the report. "Our new rents continue toincrease as demand for quality remains high. We've completed newand renewal leases for 6.3 million sf of space in the year, 13%higher than the first nine months of 2006. I'm not so naïve to saythat everything is perfect, we expect to see a softening in certainretail sectors, but not so much that it should change retailers'expansion plans by any degree."

And any softening threats won't change the company's expansionplans too much, said GGP executives. Bucksbaum said there are 60retail redevelopment projects worth $1 billion now in the pipeline,and 16 new developments planned or under construction pegged at $2billion in investment.

Bob Michaels, president and COO, said during the call that thecompany expects to reach record occupancy at the end of the year."We do expect some store closings in the first quarter, but thoseclosings were anticipated, and those spaces have already beenre-leased," he said. He said there will be three mall expansionsfinished this month, including Augusta Mall in Augusta, GA andLifestyle Village in Portland, OR. There are also a few projectsplanned for completion in the first quarter, he said, including the340,000-sf Shops at the Venetian Hotel and the 100,000-sf VistaCommons retail center, both in Las Vegas, as well as the 750,000-sfRiver Crossing center in Macon, GA, a joint venture with Jim Wilsonand Associates. The company currently owns or manages 200 malls in45 states.