NEW YORK — Mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. won preliminary court approval of the outline of its plan to restructure $9.7 billion of mortgage debt owed on 92 shopping centers and office buildings, including Ala Moana Center.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Allan Gropper in New York, in an order signed yesterday, set a confirmation hearing on the reorganization plan for Dec. 15 and a Dec. 11 deadline for objections.

The mall owner said units for which mortgage holders had agreed to new terms will exit bankruptcy by the end of the year. The deal didn't include $6 billion in mortgages for other properties, which will stay in bankruptcy.

Gropper on Nov. 24 granted a request by the company to file parts of the reorganization plan under seal. General Growth said that disclosure of details in the revised mortgages would compromise its ability to negotiate with mortgage holders that haven't as yet come to terms.

General Growth, based in Chicago, filed the biggest real estate bankruptcy in U.S. history in April after amassing $27 billion in debt during an acquisition spree. The company owns or manages more than 200 shopping malls in 44 states and also owns office buildings.

Ala Moana Center, one of the properties in the plan, has annual sales per square foot of about $1,125, making it one of General Growth's best-performing malls, according to estimates by real estate research company Green Street Advisors in Newport Beach, California.

The Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian in Las Vegas is the only other of 22 malls that General Growth calls "platinum properties" included in the plan. On its Web site, the company calls these malls "favorites of the shopper with the most discriminating taste for luxury."

The properties range from the "crown jewel" of Ala Moana Center to "run-of-the-mill properties," James Sullivan, senior analyst at Green Street Advisors, said yesterday in a phone interview. The mortgage for Ward Centers in Kaka'ako also is included in the restructuring plan.

"Some are great, some are pretty good and some are not so good," said Sullivan, who called the plan a "big step forward" that would put pressure on other lenders to support the restructuring.

The plan, combined with last month's agreement to extend loan terms, may result in bids by Simon Property Group Inc. and Westfield Group to purchase General Growth, he said.

"This sets the stage to make a pitch for the whole company," Sullivan said.