Mills Corp. on Wednesday announced a series of financial maneuvers that were hailed by Wall Street as well as by the chairman of the agency that runs the Meadowlands Sports Complex, where Mills is constructing the $1.2 billion Xanadu project.

Mills arranged for a $625 million mortgage for its Sawgrass Mills mall in Florida, which company officials said would free up nearly $250 million. Bankers for Mills also agreed not to declare the real estate investment trust in default on its loans, even though the company still hasn't filed its 2005 annual report because of accounting errors.