General Growth Properties Inc. continuted to negotiate with its lenders today to extend payment deadlines on several expiring loans or face a possible bankruptcy filing, the Wall Street Journal reported.

General Growth, whose Hawaii properties include Ala Moana Center and Ward Centers, has warned in Securities and Exchange Commission filings that it might need to seek Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection if it fails to win deadline extensions on debts coming due, according to a report on the newspaper's Web site.

The Chicago-based company, which owns and manages more than 200 U.S. malls, carries $27 billion in debt amassed in acquisition sprees. It now faces loans coming due on a weekly basis, but it lacks sufficient cash or borrowing capacity to pay them, the Journal said in its report.