Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/122387
ShaSa in CanCún, MexiCo groupís executive president. "It is one of the economies with big growth possibility in light of the problems still faced by European countries and even the United States." Walmart, the biggest retailer in Mexico, announced that it would open 250 stores in Mexico this year across its various formats. Mexicoís Liverpool department store chain has earmarked $510 million to open four stores and three shopping centers this year. Grocery retailer Comercial Mexicana is set to spend nearly $290 million on 12 new supermarkets and two Restaurante California units. Shasa, one of Mexicoís leading womenís fashion retailers, is rolling out 10 stores this year and will keep expanding its 80 existing stores to a larger format. "Last year our sales in the Mexican market registered double-digit growth," said Gabriela Fragoso, Shasaís marketing manager. The outlook remains bright. The Mexican gross domestic product is projected to grow by at least 3.5 percent this year, after having expanding last year at 3.9 percent rate. Inflation has eased a bit, from 3.82 percent in 2011 to 3.57 percent last year, and as of January the unemployment rate stood at just 5.4 percent. Last yearís election of the pro-business Enrique Peña Nieto as 242 SC T / M a y 2 0 1 3 president boosted investor confidence in this country of 112 million. "Mexicoís economy is very healthy, with a small external debt, high dollar reserves, a Mexican peso that has not varied considerably in the past three years and a new government that generates more confidence in the business community," said Juan Ignacio Rodríguez, partner in charge of the real estate planning division of Mexico Cityñbased MAC Arquitectos Consultores. The Mexican real estate industry is also benefiting from the continued growth of FIBRAS (fideicomisos de infraestructura y bienes raices ó Mexicoís version of REITs) and publicly listed structured equity securities called CKDs, whose main source of capital is the burgeoning pension funds. Two of the countryís leading mall developers ó Mexico Retail Properties and Planigrupo ó have issued CKDs, while Fibra Uno, Mexicoís biggest REIT, raised $1.7 billion in January on the Mexican stock market to fund its acquisition of malls and other real estate. Fibra Unoís mall portfolio includes La Isla Shopping Center, and Forum by the Sea, both in Cancún. This year and next, 13 shopping centers will be opening in Mexico. At least 50 other projects could break ground this year or in 2014, says Rodríguez, who notes that these figures account only for centers with at least one anchor and a minimum 30 stores. While groceryanchored malls once reigned supreme, the new wave is focusing on a mix of restaurants, movie theaters and other types of entertainment, Rodríguez says. The Antea Lifestyle Center, in Querétaro; Galerías Marina, in Mazatlán; and Patio Santa Fe, in the municipality of Alvaro Obregón, state of Michoacán, are among the projects under construction. Investors are conservative these days, eager to avoid the overbuilding of the decade between 2000 and 2010, when foreign capital was plentiful, observers say. Back then, the number of centers increased from nearly 300 in 2000 to about 500 in 2010. At the end of last year, Mexico had about 600 centers, according to MAC Arquitectos. For all the latter-day caution, developers have struggled to fill some of the new properties, because they are too big for the market, inadequately pre-leased or poorly located, executives point out. "Mexicoís mall market is very good, with demand from retailers for space," said Jordan Malugen, senior portfolio manager at Prudential Real Estate Investors, in Mexico. "That said, a lot of the old space that did not get filled during the 2008ñí09 crisis is being passed by the new wave of [mall] development. Some Mexico's economy is very healthy, with small external debt, high dollar reserves and a new government that generates more confidence in the business community.