Branson/Tri-Lakes News: Branson Landing awards new management contract

Branson-based HCW Development Co. LLC transferred the management, marketing and leasing contract of the $420 million Lake Taneycomo waterfront retail development to Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. Another Chicago company, Urban Retail Properties, managed Branson Landing since it opened in spring 2006.

Terms of the new contract were not disclosed.

Publicly traded General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP) is a real estate investment trust with ownership or management of more than 200 malls in 45 states, including the Galleria in St. Louis and Capitol Mall in Jefferson City. Among its premiere properties are Water Tower Place on Michigan Avenue in Chicago and The Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian in Las Vegas, according to www.ggp.com. The company also develops master-planned communities and mixed-use properties nationally.

“We’re going to work very closely with HCW Development to establish short and long-term goals for Branson Landing,” said Nicole Spreck, General Growth Properties’ director of public affairs. “We will then create strategic merchandising, operational and marketing plans and implement the appropriate strategies.”

Branson Landing, anchored by retailers Belk and Bass Pro Shops and a Hilton hotel, contains restaurants, condos and a $7.5 million water feature and town square that holds outdoor concerts.

The outdoor lifestyle center attracted 5.7 million people in 2007, according to Tammy Scholten, Branson Landing’s director of marketing, who became part of the General Growth Properties staff when the contract went into effect.

Scholten added that during the 12 months through June, Branson Landing recorded 5,952,533 visitors, tracked by traffic counters at entrances. A mathematic formula figures 2.05 people per vehicle and does not factor in bus or group traffic, she said.

There are slightly more than 2,000 employees among Branson Landing’s tenants, Scholten said, declining to disclose the center’s occupancy rates.

According to General Growth Properties’ second-quarter earnings results, net income for the three months ending June 30 was $34 million, compared to $8.4 million for the same period a year ago. Second-quarter 2008 earnings per share were 13 cents, a 10-cent increase from the comparable 2007 quarter, primarily due to the sale of office-building stock, the company said.

General Growth Properties’ shares closed July 30 at $30.09, compared to a 52-week range of $26.72 to $57.84.