Westfield Group, the biggest shopping center owner in the world by market value, said that it will start about $A1 billion of development projects in Australia this year. Westfield also released its quarterly sales figures. The group said that its total sales were reported up by 2% in the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

Westfield also said that it has registered a growth of 5.3% in its U. S. sales in the quarter. Westfield Group said in a statement that it will soon commence its $A1 billion development project this year after its transformation in the global market. Westfield further said that these projects will be focused at Australia.

Westfield said $A800 million of the new projects will be put in Australia while the remaining $A200 million will be placed at New Zealand. The retailer said that main development sites include the Sydney City office tower, Westfield Belconnen in the ACT and Westfield Fountain Gate in Victoria.

These three cites when combined are expected to cost Westfield about $A725 million in total. Westfield also said that it is planning to commence between $A500 million to $A1 billion of development projects per year post 2010. Westfield also announced that its total sales were reported up by 2% for the quarter ended March 31. U. S. sales were reported up by 5.3% in the three months ended March 31 comparing to the same period last year.