Cancún, Quintana Roo — A scaled-back proposal to revive the long-stalled Malecón Tajamar development could become a major economic driver for Cancún, according to real estate developers, as authorities at the state and federal levels begin formal talks on the project.
Miguel Ángel Lemus Mateos, president of the Quintana Roo Association of Real Estate Developers (Adiqroo), said the new plan calls for building only 30% to 40% of the density originally envisioned, aiming to strike a balance between urban growth and environmental protection.
The proposal, initially drafted by the Cancún, Puerto Morelos and Isla Mujeres Hotel Association, has been submitted to Fonatur, the national tourism development fund. It seeks to develop just a fraction of the 74.24-hectare site, of which 58 hectares were originally slated for residential, commercial and service uses.
“There is a commission that Governor Mara Lezama formed with the state’s Public Policy and Emblematic Projects Cabinet to hold talks with the federal government,” Lemus Mateos said, confirming that a formal working group is now evaluating the project’s feasibility.
The original master plan, launched in 2006, included 16 large investment lots, between 1,400 and 1,500 hotel rooms, more than 2,000 apartments and residences, plus office towers, shopping centers and restaurants. Fonatur installed basic infrastructure such as roads, electricity, drainage and sewage between 2006 and 2012.
However, construction partially affected mangrove areas adjacent to the Nichupté Lagoon System, sparking environmental lawsuits that brought the project to a complete halt in 2016.
The new proposal aims to unlock those frozen investments under a low-impact model that guarantees ecological preservation and legal certainty, Lemus Mateos said.
