The developer of the oft-delayed Elk Grove Promenade shopping mall says it's in danger of going out of business, raising fresh doubts about the Promenade.

General Growth Properties Inc.'s worsening financial condition was outlined in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Retail experts said they're convinced the Elk Grove mall will be opened, either by General Growth or a successor. But the opening, set for fall 2010, could well slip.

"Sooner or later, the Promenade is going to open because it's a basically completed mall," said Garrick Brown, research director in the Sacramento office of commercial real estate broker Colliers International. "Will it come to market in 2010, fall 2010? Maybe, maybe not."

Though the exterior to the 1.1 million-square-foot mall is done, the opening was delayed in July by a year, to the fourth quarter of 2010, because of the weak economy. Elk Grove has been especially hard hit by the downturn in the housing market. It was the third delay in the history of the Promenade.

Nicole Spreck, a General Growth spokeswoman, said Tuesday that the company "will continue to operate" and is working with financial advisers to find new capital sources. She said "nothing's changed" in regard to the 2010 timetable for Elk Grove.

But she said all of General Growth's pending projects face some uncertainty. The company is "evaluating our construction schedule as economic conditions evolve and our financial issues are resolved," she said.

Christine Brainerd, a spokeswoman for the city, said Elk Grove officials have been in regular contact with General Growth in the past few weeks, but not since Monday's SEC filing.

"We remain hopeful that they'll soon be a part of our community and that they recover from their economic difficulties," she said.

Many residents see the Promenade as a key to Elk Grove's emergence as a major economic hub in the Sacramento region.

Even if General Growth goes under, its malls would be taken over by someone, and the Promenade would be no exception. "Someone's going to have to come in and save it," said Scott Crowle, a retail expert in the Roseville office of broker Marcus & Millichap.

Brown said the speculation is that all or part of General Growth could be acquired by one of two big mall developers: Westfield Group, which owns Sacramento's Westfield Downtown Plaza and Roseville's Westfield Galleria, or Simon Property Group Inc. of Indianapolis.

Simon, in a conference call with investors last week, said it wasn't likely to buy General Growth. A Westfield spokeswoman said Tuesday she wouldn't comment on "market rumor or speculation."

Based in Chicago, General Growth is the nation's second largest mall developer. It appears to have blundered by spending $12.6 billion to buy rival developer Rouse Co. in 2004, leaving it heavily in debt.

General Growth, which ousted its chief executive and chief financial officers last month, said in Monday's filing that it might be unable to extend or refinance a $900 million debt due Dec. 1, plus another $3.07 billion in debt scheduled to come due next year.

Those problems raise "substantial doubts" about its survival, the company said. It might be forced to seek "legal protection from our creditors," a reference to bankruptcy.

The company's stock fell to 49 cents a share Tuesday, down 88 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange.

Crowle said the repeated delays at the Promenade could be tempting some of the secondary tenants to look elsewhere. General Growth's survival issues won't help with retailers.

"It's so important to have that product ready to go when (tenants) are ready to sign," he said.

But at least one anchor tenant, Macy's, said through a spokeswoman Tuesday it remains committed to Elk Grove. Other big tenants expected at the mall include Target, JCPenney, Barnes & Noble and a multi-screen Cinemark theater.

Call The Bee's Dale Kasler, (916) 321-1066.