General Growth Properties Inc., owner of Jordan Creek Town Center, could soon emerge from bankruptcy if a judge next week rejects a request from a group of creditors and loan servicers to strip a number of the company’s malls from the Chapter 11 filing, Reuters reported.

The issue stems around the Chicago-based company’s method of setting up each mall as a special purpose entity (SPE), a separate company, which protected General Growth from each mall’s obligations. An independent director governed each SPE and that entity’s cash was managed separately.

When General Growth filed for bankruptcy protection in April, it brought 166 of its malls with it. Together, the entities had $24 billion in debt. About 200 other malls that are part of joint ventures are not in bankruptcy, along with General Growth’s management company.

A group of creditors and loan servicers are expected to ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper at a June 17 meeting to dismiss about a dozen malls from the case, arguing that General Growth pushed the SPEs into bankruptcy to give the company more leverage when negotiating loan modifications and extensions.

This case could be watched closely by the commercial real estate and lending industries. If General Growth is successful in its case, some investors, lawyers and others worry it could encourage other borrowers to try to use bankruptcy as a negotiating tool.