“(We will) take advantage of the large amount of property in the center not being used for housing, and the buildings that are being used and are in good condition, we will expand them for example by another floor,” said Javier Gutierrez, coordinator of city hall’s Management Control Office, adding that the Institute of Housing will also consider ways of facilitating private investment, lowering restrictions, and streamlining paperwork and regulations.
Residential buildings in the historic city center have long been limited to a certain height, but in December the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and Mexico’s Green Party (PVEM) backed amendments to raise the threshold to five stories. The reforms would facilitate the sale of abandoned properties in the city center, by increasing the potential for profitable redevelopment.
Guadalajara’s Planning Committee for Municipal Development (Coplademun) has approved the updated Municipal Development Plan, which will determine the laws of the land until 2030, and the plan will now be submitted for approval from the local council.
Francisco Beckmann Gonzalez, president of the Guadalajara chapter of the Chamber of Commerce (Canaco), has also called for redevelopment in the city center. In order to generate more jobs and achieve greater economic development, the area requires greater security, better quality housing and entertainment options, and regulated trade, Beckmann said.