After struggling for six months to stave off a threatened bankruptcy, General Growth Properties, owner of Tucson Mall, Park Place Mall and the Mall of Sierra Vista, said it couldn’t reach an agreement with its creditors on $27 billion worth of debt and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection April 16.

The Chicago-based firm is the nation’s second largest operator of malls with 158 malls in 44 states, all of which were included in the filing for protection.

The filing represents the largest real estate bankruptcy in United States history.

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General Growth said it intends to keep all of its malls open and pursue a plan of reorganization. It said it already has secured debtor-in-possession financing facility of about $375 million from Pershing Square Capital Management.

“Our core business remains sound and is performing well with stable cash flows. We believe that Chapter 11 is the best process for restructuring maturing mortgage loans, reducing the company’s corporate debt, and establishing a sustainable, long-term capital structure for the company,” said Adam Metz, chief executive, in a statement.

He said the filing should have little impact on retail tenants and consumers.

According to the filing, the New York branch of Germany’s EuroHypo AG, Wilmington Trust, and Bank of New York Mellon are among its largest unsecured creditors. The company listed $29.5 million in total assets and about $27.3 million in debts.