It's not personal ... it's just business

Commenting on Macerich Company's results for the fourth quarter of 2006 -- $147.9 million in net income available to common stockholders compared to $23.6 million for the same quarter a year ago -- president and CEO Arthur Coppola gave a backhanded tip of the hat to former Colorado Springs holding The Citadel. "The fundamentals remained solid with good releasing spreads, strong occupancy levels and good tenant sales gains," Coppola said. "The quarter was another example of strategically improving our overall portfolio with the sale of three non core assets and the acquisition of another strong East Coast mall. Through asset sales and financing activity our balance sheet continues to improve and we are well positioned to fund and execute our development pipeline." The Citadel was sold in late December along with Northwest Arkansas Mall in Fayetteville and Crossroads Mall in Oklahoma City for what Macerich stipulates in its fourth-quarter report was $375 million (a bit less than the $390 million that the buyers at Midwest Mall Properties). Those three are the "non core assets" and even understanding that business is business, when was the last time anybody like to hear their job or their business referred to as a non-core asset?