Egis, UrbanHub and the operational layer deciding what gets built in Mexico

The debate on infrastructure in Latin America typically revolves around two poles: the capital that finances and the construction firms that execute. Between the two, however, operates an intermediate layer — engineering, project management, urban strategy, asset operations — that determines which projects are viable, where they are located, and under what standards they are developed. In Mexico, that layer is undergoing an accelerated transformation. Global firms like Egis are doubling down, housing infrastructure operators like UrbanHub are consolidating a proprietary model, and the arrival of new leadership at companies like SAAM signals a professionalization cycle that transcends the mere injection of resources.

This reconfiguration is not happening in a vacuum. The Infrastructure Investment Plan for Development with Well-Being 2026-2030, announced by the Office of the President and the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, envisions a total mixed and public investment of 5.6 trillion pesos. For 2026 alone, the federal government projects 1.7 trillion pesos in mixed infrastructure investment — 900 billion pesos in public funds and 722 billion pesos in private and mixed funds — according to the SHCP. The volume is considerable. But the relevant question is no longer how much money is available, but who possesses the technical capacity to convert that capital into executable projects.

The central thesis is straightforward: in the 2026-2030 cycle, engineering, consulting, and asset operation firms will have greater influence over Mexico's infrastructure pipeline than many investment funds. The bottleneck is no longer financing; it is the capacity for structuring, design, and management.

Why are engineering consultancies gaining strategic weight over pure capital?

The answer lies in the growing complexity of the regulatory environment and the scale of projects that Mexico needs to execute simultaneously. The proposed Infrastructure for Well-Being Law, announced in November 2025, seeks to reform the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework, prioritizing "mixed investments" where the state retains greater control and eliminates contracts considered disadvantageous. This means the rules of engagement for private participation are being redefined. In that context, firms capable of navigating the public-private interface — with competencies in engineering, regulatory management, and technical structuring — become indispensable players.

Egis illustrates this dynamic clearly. The French engineering and mobility group announced a $1 billion investment for North America — with 80% allocated to Mexico, the United States, and Canada — for the 2025-2028 period, according to Revista Infraestructura and Egis Group itself. Laurent Germain, CEO of Egis Group, has stated that the company aims to double its size in Mexico by 2026, balancing its portfolio in a 50/50 ratio between public and private projects. Line 4 of the Guadalajara Light Rail, operated with Egis participation, began formal operations in January 2026 following its inauguration in December 2025, according to the Government of Jalisco and Siteur.

The relevant data point is not just the magnitude of the investment, but the nature of the positioning. Egis does not build; it structures, designs, and manages. Its expansion reflects a precise reading of the Mexican market: the most acute demand is not for capital or raw construction capacity, but for technical sophistication in projects involving urban mobility, logistics infrastructure linked to nearshoring, and energy transition.

Firms that dominate feasibility engineering and project management are becoming the true gatekeepers of the Latin American infrastructure pipeline.

How are UrbanHub and Estrategia Urbana redefining the concept of operator in the housing sector?

If Egis represents the operational layer in mobility and large-scale infrastructure, UrbanHub and Estrategia Urbana embody an equivalent trend in the residential and urban space. The distinction matters: these are not conventional developers that build and sell, but firms that integrate development, operations, and urban strategy into a continuous model.

UrbanHub, led by Alfredo Marín Pasos, has developed more than 65,000 square meters of residential space and operates over 1,300 apartments under the multifamily model in Mexico City, according to official company information. The multifamily model — institutional rental housing — represents a housing infrastructure category where long-term operational capacity matters as much as initial construction. Projections shared at GRI Residential Mexico 2026 point to sustained growth in Mexico's multifamily sector amid demand for institutional rental housing for the 2026-2030 period.

For its part, Estrategia Urbana, led by Jonathan Cohen, has completed more than 70 developments and built over 2,900 housing units, according to data available through GRI Club. Both firms operate in an ecosystem where urban planning, intelligent densification, and residential asset operations converge. They are not construction companies in the traditional sense; they are housing infrastructure operators.

This evolution responds to a demographic and economic reality. Mexican cities, particularly Mexico City and Guadalajara, face growing demand for well-located housing that the peripheral development model can no longer satisfy. Firms that combine development capacity with urban strategy vision and long-term operations occupy a niche that neither large developers nor investment funds can fill on their own.

The housing infrastructure operator — who develops, designs, and manages — is emerging as a distinct actor category from the traditional developer, with profound implications for the institutionalization of the rental housing market.

What does SAAM's new leadership signal about sector professionalization?

The appointment of Hernán Gómez Cisternas as General Manager (CEO) of SAAM effective February 1, 2026, according to Portal Portuario and the company itself, adds another dimension to the analysis. SAAM, a port and tugboat operator with significant presence in Latin America, represents the logistics infrastructure that underpins regional supply chains. A leadership change at a firm of this scale, at a time when nearshoring is redefining Mexico's trade flows, is not a minor corporate event.

The creation of the Investment Promotion Council, established on December 3, 2025 and coordinated by Altagracia Gómez Sierra, with participation from business leaders such as Carlos Slim and Bernardo Gómez, reinforces the thesis that the Mexican government is seeking to articulate mixed investment projects with a more defined institutional architecture. This council operates as a bridge between the public agenda and the private sector's execution capacity.

The convergence is notable: regulation redefining private participation, global engineering firms doubling their commitment, housing operators professionalizing rental housing, renewed leadership in logistics infrastructure, and a public-private coordination body. What is emerging is not simply an investment cycle, but a reconfiguration of the execution ecosystem.

Implications for cross-border investment in Latin America

For investors and operators participating in the GRI Institute ecosystem — through gatherings such as GRI Real Estate Mexico or roundtable discussions on Latin American infrastructure — the strategic reading is clear. Mexico's infrastructure pipeline for 2026-2030 is ambitious in scale, but its materialization will depend less on capital availability and more on the depth of the ecosystem of firms capable of structuring, designing, managing, and operating.

Engineering consultancies like Egis, housing infrastructure operators like UrbanHub, developers with urban strategy vision like Estrategia Urbana, and logistics operators like SAAM form the intermediate layer that translates investment intent into functional assets. Understanding their logic, their capacity constraints, and their growth strategies is as relevant as analyzing capital flows or expected returns.

Mexico's infrastructure market in 2026 is not defined solely by its 5.6 trillion pesos in projected investment. It is defined by the question of who has the technical and operational capacity to execute. The firms that answer that question are the ones quietly reshaping the map of what gets built in the country.

GRI Institute accompanies this transformation through its community of real estate and infrastructure leaders in Latin America, creating spaces for analysis and dialogue where the sector's strategic decisions are discussed before they become headlines.