River Crossing Groundbreaking to be Sept. 12.

MACON, Ga. -- A ceremonial groundbreaking for The Shoppes at River Crossing is scheduled for Tuesday, Sept. 12, at 10 a.m., with local business and government leaders joining executives from Jim Wilson & Associates, Inc. (JWA) and General Growth Properties, Inc. (NYSE:GGP), the two companies that are building the 750,000-square-foot regional shopping and entertainment center at Interstate 75 and Riverside Drive in Macon, Ga.

The center is scheduled to open in the spring of 2008 with upscale specialty stores, restaurants, two department stores and five mid-size anchor stores. Actual construction is scheduled to commence this month.

"It took the leadership of many local authorities and business leaders to make this project possible," said Will Wilson, vice president of development for Jim Wilson & Associates. "At our groundbreaking ceremony we will salute the teamwork and visionary leadership that will make The Shoppes at River Crossing a magnet for shoppers and visitors from miles around."

The Shoppes at River Crossing will be the first open-air retail and entertainment center in Bibb County and will serve a 22-county trade area in central Georgia with an estimated population of 612,000. Macon was recently named by Inc. magazine as one of the "top 50 small metro areas in the U.S."

"We look forward to serving the people of the heart of Georgia," said John Bergstrom, senior vice president, development, General Growth Properties. "We will introduce retail stores and restaurants that Macon will embrace, situated in an environment that visitors will want to enjoy time and time again."

Crawford McWilliams Hatcher of Birmingham, Ala. serves as the architect on the development and Brasfield & Gorrie also of Birmingham will be the general contractor.

Jim Wilson & Associates, Inc., based in Montgomery, Ala., is a privately owned real estate company specializing in shopping centers, residential real estate investments, offices, condominiums, hotels and multi-use developments. With over three decades of real estate experience, JWA has developed in excess of 21 million square-feet of shopping center space. The company's development portfolio includes residential communities and condominium residences, multi-use developments, Class A office buildings and hotel and country club assets. For more information, visit www.jwamalls.com

General Growth Properties, Inc. headquartered in Chicago, is the second largest U.S.-based publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT). General Growth currently has an ownership interest in or management responsibility for a portfolio of more than 200 shopping malls in 44 states, as well as ownership in planned community developments and commercial office buildings. The portfolio totals approximately 200 million square feet of retail space and includes more than 24,000 retail stores nationwide. General Growth Properties, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol GGP. For more information, please visit the company web site at http://www.generalgrowth.com.