WASHINGTON » Shopping-mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. is getting a two-week extension on $900 million in debt that had been scheduled to come due last week as the company works to stave off bankruptcy and negotiate longer-term extensions with lenders.

The mortgages cover two malls, Fashion Show and Palazzo, in Las Vegas, the company said late Sunday.

Chicago-based General Growth Properties, the nation's second-largest shopping mall owner and the owner of Ala Moana Center and Ward Centers, has been hit hard by the deteriorating U.S. economy and problems at struggling U.S. retailers. Analysts are unsure whether new managers, installed in late October, will be able to keep the company afloat given its staggering debt load.

“;It will be incredibly difficult for General Growth to deal with the mountain of obligations that are coming due next year,”; said Benjamin Yang, an analyst at research firm Green Street Advisors, in an e-mail.

General Growth's struggles come amid growing concern about debt tied to commercial properties. Industrywide about $20 billion will be due next year, covering everything from office and condo complexes to hotels and malls.

The retail outlook is particularly bad. Circuit City Stores Inc. and Linens 'n Things have sought bankruptcy protection. Home Depot Inc., Sears Holdings Corp., Ann Taylor Stores Corp. and Foot Locker Inc. are closing stores.

“;Many of these loans will become a nightmare as a severely slowing economy, significantly tighter credit requirements, and falling commercial real estate property prices force many borrowers to default over the coming years,”; JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst Alan Todd wrote in a research note last week.

General Growth said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing last month that it faces nearly $3.1 billion in maturing debt next year, and warned that inability to refinance that debt “;raises substantial doubts as to our ability to continue as a going concern.”; The company last month hired law firm Sidley Austin as an adviser.

Deutsche Bank analysts Lou Taylor and Vin Chao predicted yesterday that the company will likely receive a longer-term loan extension, rather than default, allowing General Growth to sell off assets or obtain new corporate-level financing.

“;Given the financial markets, it's impossible to determine when this will occur and at what price,”; they wrote.

General Growth has a stake in more than 200 shopping malls in 44 states. It is trying to sell its Las Vegas locations.

Shares of General Growth have lost 91 percent of their value since the end of September, amid concerns about the real-estate-investment trust's ability to sell debt, and turmoil in General Growth's executive ranks.

Last month, the company reported disappointing third-quarter results and cut its year-end forecast, weeks after the mall owner's board removed its chief executive, president and chief financial officer. Their ouster came after the company disclosed that former CEO John Bucksbaum's family trust provided $90 million in personal loans to cover margin debt for the former chief financial officer and president.