Juan Mari Celorio, Director of Operations of Terraforma, on Mexico's Real Estate

Terraforma, a Mexican group comprised of investment funding, asset management, development, construction and commercialization, has established themselves as leaders in developing iconic, high-end projects. With more than 15 years of experience in luxury real estate, the group touts impressive numbers and notable projects. They have successfully developed, built and commercialized more than 5.4 million square feet and are currently under management of more than $500 million in their portfolio. Currently, the team has 20 projects in development. Here, Juan Mari Celorio, Director of Operations, shares what it takes to be successful in Mexico’s luxury real estate market.

What are some challenges faced in the development process?

There are a lot of challenges during the entire development process. The first one appears when looking for the correct plot of land. At Terraforma, we say a project should have three essential characteristics: location, location, location. In Mexico City, the main challenge is to find an appropriate plot of land to develop. Being able to align the architect’s project with the finished product can get very complicated.

As a developer, what are some important factors that make a luxury project successful?

As mentioned before, I think location is one of the most important factors for a successful development. Other factors such as construction quality, design and finishing touches also contribute to determining the project’s success.

What has been your proudest achievement as Director of Operations?

For the past few years, Terraforma has experienced exponential growth, and for me as COO I think the fundamental accomplishment has been maintaining the company’s great name and its status, keeping the firm as a reference in the market. It is normal during growth periods that areas in the developer could suffer some turmoil, but we have managed to keep the same standards that have brought us to where we are now.

Being able to structure the group into the different business branches has also been a great achievement. We went from being a developer with five projects to a group of companies that include the developer, two investment funds, a company which holds investments within hotels and a construction company.

Another successful accomplishment has been the implementation of systems which have helped the company have better control in all areas. Some examples include construction site controls and a CRM.

Any exciting projects that Terraforma is currently working on?

Nowadays, the developer has 15 active projects, each one of them with its own peculiarity, but we are very excited about Reserva Leon Felipe (RLF), which will most definitely be an iconic project in Mexico City. RLF is a project with 32 single-family lots and 81 apartments distributed across four buildings. It is a very unique project located in one of the most exclusive locations in southern Mexico City.

Where do you see Mexico’s luxury real estate scene headed in the coming years?

For the past months, there has been a decrease in the sale of homes. This is mainly due to the uncertainty caused by the change in government. We think that this will change during the next year when, we hope, we will start seeing the results of the current administration. We are convinced that high-end housing will have a better upturn than the rest of the housing business, due to the low offering of developments with Terraforma’s characteristics and the high demand for these types of projects.