Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Okay, thank you. (Operator instructions). And we'll take our first question from Mark Biffert with Oppenheimer & Co.
Mark Biffert – Oppenheimer & Co.
Good morning. I was wondering if you can talk a little bit about the Mexico portfolio, your view for completing some of the ones that you haven’t broken ground on or starting the ones that you haven’t broken ground on as well as any cutbacks that you might be making in the contrary.
Mike Pappagallo
Sure. By the end of this year, we believe that all but one of our development properties in Mexico will be physically completed. It will take some time to reach stabilization on these properties, but the development program will be largely completed by the end of this year, swine flu aside which is the real wild card right now. The Mexican portfolio is actually holding up quite well. Our stabilized occupancy is about 96%, 95.5% on our properties that are in service that hasn’t declined in service.
The number of new leases equaled about what we had in terms of the vacates for the – for this quarter and our rents are largely as projected. We are seeing some softening. But in general, the anchor tenants are continuing to do very well. The Home Depots of the world which have announced the – a largely eliminating their development programs in the US are continuing to expand in Mexico. Wal-Mart has announced 250 new stores in all of Latin America and many of them in Mexico. So the anchor tenants continue to do quite well. And I think it’s – fundamentally it’s related to the fact that there are just so few shopping centers in Mexico. There’s been a 100 and sum million people, there is just few retail and first class properties to service that. So long-term, we still feel good about Mexico.
Now everything that could happen to that poor country has been happening in terms of the violence from the drug trade, the swine flu and now an earthquake in Mexico City. So it is very difficult to project out. But I think long-term we have very good properties in the fundamentals that are in place in Mexico are strong. Because the development program is winding down, we have made some expense reductions, we have cut about 20% of our staff and our operating expenses related to Mexico and we will see some of those savings translate over time. But it’s very difficult to project going forward, given what’s going on right now.
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