The Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing late yesterday afternoon on a proposal by General Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust based in Chicago, to redevelop the South Street Seaport properties it acquired in 2004 from The Rouse Company.

GGP and its architects, SHoP Architects, are proposing relocating the "Tin" Building at the northern end of the complex that formerly housed the famous Fulton Fish Market to a location near the eastern edge of the property at Pier 17. Much of the "Tin" Building was destroyed in a 1995 fire and the industrial-shed-style building was famous primarily for its fishmongers.

SHoP is also designing the East River Waterfront Plan for the city and has designed the very handsome Rector Street Bridge at Battery Park City and the stunning Porter House on Ninth Avenue at 15th Street.

The GGP proposal also calls for a 42-story hotel and condominium apartment tower to replace the 1907 "Tin" Building with a facade resembling a fishnet and a cluster of new low-rise structures to replace the other existing structures on Pier 17. The proposed mixed-use tower is outside of the official South Street Seaport Historic District.

General Growth owns Watertower Place in Chicago and numerous other major mixed-use developments across the country.

Julie Menin, the chairperson of Community Board 1, has said told General Growth that that the community was facing "a real crisis" and was extremely interested in amenities such as a school and a community center. "Before we can even get to the issue of height, this community would have to see significant infrastructure improvement," she said.

General Growth has informed Community Board 1 that it was amenable to including a school facility at the site and the board requested that the commission not take a vote on the proposal until it can vote on its own resolution about it next month. The commission agreed to adjourn the meeting without a vote.

Prior to the commission's meeting, some members of the Municipal Art Society held a press conference on the street at the Municipal Building, where the commission has its offices, to protest against approval of the GGP plan on the grounds that it would set a bad preservation precedent.

The Historic Districts Council also argued that "putting the Tin Building alone on the edge of a pier is not putting it into context," adding that "While the Pier 17 mall may not be universally loved, it was approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission as an appropriate addition to the district." It was designed in 1983 by Benjamin C. Thompson who was well-known for his "Festival Marketplace" designs.

An article in Monday's edition of the Wall Street Journal by Kris Hudson and Peter Lattman said that GGP "is canvassing private-equity firms, hedge funds and other investors in a bid to sell $1.5 billion to $2 billion in preferred shares as it races to refinance or pay off billions of dollars in debt due in the coming months."

"The company's bankers at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have in recent weeks made the rounds of potential investors including Blackstone Group LP, Colony Capital LLC and Vornado Realty Trust, according to people familiar with the situation," the article continued, adding that the company "has struggled for the past year to refinance and pay down a $27 billion debt load amassed in its aggressive acquisition spree of past years." The company owns more than 200 shopping malls in the United States and its stock has slid about 89 percent in the past year on liquidity concerns, the article continued.