The purpose of this note is to inform you that on March 5th, the Government of Mexico City published in its Official Gazette [1] the Guidelines and Criteria for the Operation of the Real Estate Coordination Window (the “Guidelines“), formalizing the framework under which the mechanism to streamline the management of real estate related administrative procedures called Real Estate Coordination Window of Mexico City [2] (the “Window“) will operate. This initiative, managed by the Department of Planning, Land Management and Metropolitan Coordination of Mexico City (the “Department“) aims to optimize processes and provide timely government responses for real estate projects requiring the implementation of a planning instrument. It is important to underscore that the use of certain planning instruments is mandatory for large-scale real estate projects, depending on their size and type. Among them are the Formation of the Polygon of Action, the Transfer of Potentialities, the Land Use Report and the Soil Zoning Certificate with Zoning Rule 26, applicable before the Secretary of Urban Development and Housing ofof Mexico City and the Metropolitan Services of Mexico City. These will be required for housing developments of more than 10,000 m² and for office, commercial, industrial, equipment or mixed-use projects of more than 5,000 m², except for those destined for low-income or low-income housing in government programs with low-impact commerce or services.
Key Features
The Guidelines establish the rules and procedures for evaluating real estate development projects submitted by the applicants through the Window. The key aspects include:
1.- Integration of the Window: The Department will convene members from various agencies, entities or mayors’ offices, as well as specialized technical personnel for consultation, to commence the operation of the Window. These members will periodically review real estate development projects submitted by private entities through rotating meetings or sessions held at the offices of participating agencies.
2.- Standardized Requirements: When an applicant submits a procedure through the Window, the Department will schedule a meeting within 15 business days for the applicants to present their project.
During the presentation, applicants must provide key details, including the location, development characteristics, impact on public services, estimated investment and execution timelines. Only the project for which the applicant was summoned may be presented. Any technical questions raised by the applicants will be addressed in specialized advisory meetings, as described below.
3.- Structure of Presentation Meetings: Presentation meetings will begin when all interested applicants and the heads of + the involved agencies are present. Each presentation will be allocated 10 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of dialogue. Upon conclusion, a record of agreements will be signed. Each session may review up to 5 projects.
4.- Project Evaluation Timelines: Within 5 business days of receiving a project submission, the Window will forward the project details to the relevant agencies for review for these agencies to provide feedback within 10 business days. If no response is received, a reminder will be sent and the agencies will be granted an additional 3 business davs to issue their opinion.
5.- Advisory Meetings: Applicants may request an advisory meeting within 5 business days after receiving feedback on their project. The Bureau of Urban Planning will coordinate these meetings. The advisory sessions will be purely informative. helping applicants understand the key aspects required to improve the feasibility of their projects.
Implementation and Next Steps
According to the Guidelines, the Department will summon the relevant authorities to begin the operation of the Window in the coming weeks. However, as of the date of this note, access to the platform has not yet been enabled.
Conclusions
We consider that the implementation of the Window represents a sign snificant step forward in the simplification and streamlining of real estate procedures in Mexico City. By centralizing project reviews, a reduction in response times for developers is expected. However, we consider that the success of this program will depend on the effective coordination among the participating agencies.
[1] Pages 11 a 13: https://data.consejeria.cdmx.gob.mx/portalold/uploads/gacetas/f1ca0ab7ccceed669454427a0d8e2806.pdf
[2] Please refer to our previous related note here.
