10 Years Later: Reforma Colón Breaks Ground with a Project 60% Smaller Than Originally Planned

The evolution of Reforma Colón reveals not only a significant reduction in scale, but also the project’s growing financial importance within FIBRA SOMA’s investment strategy.

Javier Sordo Madaleno founded FIBRA SOMA in 2021. Construction on Reforma Colón began in February 2026. Photo: SiiLA.

By: SiiLA News

07/28/2026

Ten years after it was announced, Reforma Colón, FIBRA SOMA’s mixed-use development on Paseo de la Reforma featuring office, retail, hotel, and residential components, finally began construction. However, the project the company has now started building is no longer the same one it described in its annual reports between 2021 and 2024. During that period, FIBRA SOMA reported a development with nearly 488,000 square meters of projected gross leasable area (GLA). In its 2025 Annual Report, however, that figure was reduced to approximately 200,000 square meters, nearly 60% less than the program originally planned¹.

The reduction affected every component of the development. Office space declined from 258,000 to 105,500 square meters; retail space from 80,800 to 56,380 square meters; the hotel from 880 to 322 keys; and residential space from 76,000 to 11,500 square meters. In addition, both the hotel and residential components were shifted from Phase I to Phase II.

The revision was not accompanied by a specific announcement or a public explanation. Between 2021 and 2024, FIBRA SOMA kept Reforma Colón’s development program virtually unchanged in its annual reports. It was not until the 2025 Annual Report that the company replaced that plan with a reduced one. Months later, in its first-quarter 2026 report, the company disclosed that construction had begun in February and projected the development’s completion between 2028 and 2029.

The project, however, predates the REIT by five years. Its history began in 2016, when Sordo Madaleno and Grupo Kaluz unveiled what was described as the group’s largest real estate development: a complex anchored by a 351-meter tower, announced as the tallest in Latin America. A year later, specialized publications described a five-tower project totaling approximately 795,000 square meters of construction, with its first phase expected to be completed in 2019. However, formal construction did not begin until February 2026, seven years after that projected date.

Separately, a series of administrative, regulatory, and community-related developments emerged throughout the project’s evolution. While they provide important context, they do not, on their own, support attributing the reduction in scale to any single cause.

In 2019, then-Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum included Reforma Colón among 15 mega-developments that would require community approval to move forward. A year later, the Mexico City government incorporated the project into an administrative facilitation agreement allowing certain activities to begin, subject to the subsequent completion of studies, mitigation measures, and other requirements. Later, in 2025, residents filed complaints over alleged impacts from the construction and requested reviews by local authorities. More recently, investigative reports published in 2026 indicated that the urban impact assessment remained under review and that INVEA had initiated oversight actions related to the construction work.

The project currently being promoted differs from the original proposal. Photo: FIBRA SOMA.

Beyond the reasons behind the redesign, the project’s downsizing also carries implications for FIBRA SOMA investors. As of the end of the first quarter of 2026, Reforma Colón had accumulated MXN$8,733 billion in invested capital, including MXN$328 million deployed between January and March of that year. In addition, the project’s financial plan calls for approximately MXN$4,190 billion in further investment between 2026 and 2029 through capital contributions and project-level debt before the development becomes operational. If that plan is fully executed, total investment in Reforma Colón would reach approximately MXN$12,923 billion.

Until then, rental income associated with the project will depend on its completion and expected opening between 2028 and 2029. According to FIBRA SOMA’s investment program, approximately 63% of the remaining development pipeline CapEx scheduled between 2026 and 2029 corresponds to Reforma Colón, making it the trust’s largest investment commitment during that period². As a result, any change in the project’s scope or timeline remains relevant to the evolution of its development pipeline.

For now, the project has moved from being a long-term plan to an active construction site. What remains to be seen is not only when it will be completed, but also whether it will retain the development program presented in 2025 or undergo further changes as construction progresses. After a decade of announcements, delays, and a redesign that substantially reduced the project’s scale, the key question for investors is no longer how the project might change, but whether FIBRA SOMA will be able to deliver the development as currently planned, on schedule and within budget.

For more analysis on REITs, real estate developments, and Mexico’s commercial real estate market, visit SiiLA Market Analytics or contact us at contacto@siila.com.mx.

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¹ The 2025 Annual Report no longer discloses the hotel’s gross leasable area and instead reports only a reduction from 880 to 322 keys. Therefore, the direct comparison between both development programs considers 414,800 m² in 2021 and 173,380 m² in 2025, excluding the hotel component, representing a 58% decrease. To estimate the hotel’s area, the same ratio between hotel keys and gross leasable area reported in 2021 (73,000 m² for 880 keys) was applied, resulting in an estimated hotel area of approximately 26,700 m². Under that assumption, the total development program amounts to approximately 200,000 m², equivalent to a reduction of roughly 59% compared with the originally reported program.

² Author’s calculations based on the Development CapEx schedule reported by FIBRA SOMA in its 1Q26 report. Remaining CapEx for Reforma Colón between 2026 and 2029 totals MXN$4.190 billion, while the remainder of the development pipeline totals MXN$2.455 billion. Consequently, Reforma Colón represents approximately 63% of the trust’s remaining development pipeline CapEx scheduled for 2026-2029 (MXN$4.190 billion out of a total of MXN$6.645 billion).

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