Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/528948
12 S C T / J u l y 2 0 1 5 w o r l d aT a g l a n C e The $16 million second phase of construction now under way at Plaza Toros, in Trujillo, Peru, is being hailed as that country's largest private investment of the next two years. The project, scheduled for completion in 2017, will bring to 800 the number of stores and kiosks at the mall, which opened in February. Retail properties in Spain remain prized targets among foreign investors. The Canada Pension Plan and Investment Board will pay about €225 million (roughly $250 million) for 50 percent of the Puerto Venecia shop- ping center, in Zaragoza, Spain. Intu Properties will own the rest. The two are also joint owners of the Parque Principal shopping center, in Oviedo. Ikea, which operates 14 Mega centers across Russia, says it will expand two of its Moscow-area shopping centers to meet tenant de- mand. The chain plans to add 50,000 square meters (nearly 540,000 square feet) to the 185,000-square-meter Mega in the Tyoply Stan dis- trict, and 70,000 square me- ters to its 210,000-square- meter shopping center in Khimki. Retailers in Hong Kong are closing stores and curb- ing expansion in the wake of reduced tourism from mainland China. Bossini International, Chow Sang Sang Holdings and Gior- dano are among retailers that reported having fewer Hong Kong stores in the past 12 months, according to Reuters. Only two of the 10 retailers Reuters sur- veyed — Luk Fook Holdings International and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group — actually added to their store count over the past year. Total volume of real es- tate investment in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, during the first quarter exceeded 24 billion dirham (about $6.5 billion), ac- cording to the Dubai Land Department. Total volume of non-Arab investment in the Dubai real estate market amounted to 12 billion dir- ham, led by investors from Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the U.K. Some are predicting that the Mall of Qatar, which is due to open in the first quarter of next year, will draw about 20 million visitors that first year. T&L; Associates is projecting a 5 percent increase in visitors yearly over the first five years, with an additional boost of 10 percent in 2022, when Qatar is scheduled to play host to the FIFA World Cup. Retail sales in India are pro- jected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2020, up from the cur- rent $925 billion, according to A.T. Kearney. The retail market there grew by 5.8 percent per year between 2010 and 2014, and GDP is projected to grow by 8 per- cent in each of the coming three years. SM Investments Corp., of the Philippines, says it plans to raise some P42.5 billion (about $950 million) in debt and equity to fund P85 billion in capital expendi- tures related to its property development, retail and banking divisions this year. The company plans to use its own capital for about half the expenditure. SM posted a record P28.4 billion in earnings last year. S C T