Female leadership redefines real estate execution in Peru as traditional figures collapse

The contrast defining Andean real estate in 2026

The Andean region's real estate market is undergoing a structural inflection point. While historic industry figures face liquidation and bankruptcy proceedings, female professionals with technical, regulatory, and capital management track records are consolidating strategic decision-making positions. The phenomenon transcends the corporate diversity agenda: it represents a shift in the very architecture of regional deal-making, where governance and institutional strength displace the male-dominated personal network models that prevailed for decades.

The evidence is concrete. In February 2026, José Miguel Rawlins, founder of Bicentenario Capital, entered forced liquidation proceedings over unpaid debts, as reported by La Tercera and GRI Hub News. That same month, the real estate firm linked to Alberto Alaluf went bankrupt after a failed reorganization, marking what La Tercera described as the crisis of the sector's traditional figures. Two protagonists of a generation that structured large-scale operations in Chile and Peru exited the playing field within weeks.

On the opposite end, Verónica Zambrano continues to lead Ositran, Peru's regulatory body for public-use transport infrastructure, after being confirmed as Chair of the Board of Directors for a five-year term through Supreme Resolution No. 060-2023-PCM, according to Agencia Andina. Paola Lazarte, whose previous tenure heading the Ministry of Transport and Communications unblocked key infrastructure projects, maintains strategic influence in project structuring from the private sector and consulting arena.

The contrast raises a question that institutional investors are already posing at forums such as those organized by GRI Institute: does female leadership in the Andean region represent a risk mitigation variable for real estate capital?

Why does the collapse of traditional figures validate a new governance model?

The simultaneous fall of Rawlins and Alaluf is not the result of a broad adverse macroeconomic cycle. Peru's real estate market projects 7% to 8% expansion in 2026, according to GRI Institute data, driven by mid- and upper-market segments. Chilean real estate investment in Peru, far from contracting, will exceed US$200 million by late 2025 and early 2026, led by corporate capital such as Echeverría Izquierdo and Paz Corp, according to GRI Hub News and Diario Financiero.

The problem facing the figures in crisis was one of governance, not market conditions. Business models built on personal relationships, aggressive leverage, and opaque governance structures proved vulnerable precisely when conditions demanded transparency and financial discipline. Bankruptcy following a failed reorganization, as in the case of the real estate firm linked to Alaluf, reveals an inability to adapt corporate structures to more demanding institutional standards.

The female leadership emerging in the Andean region is characterized by opposite attributes: rigorous technical training, formal institutional engagement, and a focus on measurable execution. Verónica Zambrano, from Ositran, regulates infrastructure concessions that form the backbone of Peru's logistics connectivity — a critical asset for real estate development along urban and peri-urban corridors. Her continuity in office, within a Peruvian political environment marked by instability, constitutes in itself a signal of institutional strength.

Paola Lazarte represents a complementary profile. Her tenure at the Ministry of Transport and Communications left as its legacy the unblocking of projects that had been stalled for years. That execution-focused approach, now transferred to the private sector, introduces into negotiation tables a logic of regulatory management and technical feasibility that purely financial actors frequently underestimate.

Institutional governance proved more resilient than relational capital. That is the central lesson the collapse of the old guard leaves for the Andean market.

How does the subsidy cut impact power dynamics in Peru's real estate sector?

Peru's fiscal context adds a layer of complexity that amplifies the relevance of these leadership shifts. The Public Sector Budget Law for Fiscal Year 2026 established a 50% cut in housing subsidy funds, including the Bono del Buen Pagador and Techo Propio programs, as reported by Infobae and the Confederation of Real Estate Developers of Peru (CODIP). The direct consequence: the number of Peruvian families able to access housing subsidies will drop drastically in 2026, according to CODIP and Revista Constructivo.

Given the magnitude of the cut, the Ministry of Housing authorized in March 2026 an emergency transfer of S/ 519 million to the Mivivienda Fund for the Build-on-Own-Land program, according to Ministerial Resolution No. 065-2026-VIVIENDA published in the Official Gazette El Peruano. The measure partially mitigates the impact but does not reverse the restrictive fiscal trend.

A reduced-subsidy environment demands exactly the type of leadership that prioritizes technical structuring over speculation: the ability to navigate regulatory frameworks, arrange blended financing, and manage political risk. In this context, profiles like those of Zambrano and Lazarte gain strategic relevance. Infrastructure regulation, Zambrano's domain at Ositran, determines the viability of housing projects in urban expansion zones. The project-unblocking expertise that characterizes Lazarte becomes critical when public capital contracts and private initiative must compensate with execution efficiency.

Developers participating in GRI Institute regional gatherings, such as Peru GRI, recognize that fiscal contraction forces a redefinition of alliances. Chilean corporate capital entering the Peruvian market, represented by firms like Echeverría Izquierdo and Paz Corp, seeks solid institutional counterparts. The preference for interlocutors with verifiable technical credentials and a regulatory track record intensifies in a cycle where state subsidies cease to be the main demand driver in social housing segments.

The Andean region faces a paradigm shift in its decision-making networks

The phenomenon observed in Peru has implications for the entire Andean region. Colombia, Chile, and Central American markets face similar dynamics: generational transition in business leadership, greater regulatory scrutiny of governance structures, and institutional investor pressure for ESG standards that include diversity in decision-making positions.

Female leadership in Andean real estate is not an aspirational trend; it is a functional response to the structural failures that the collapse of traditional figures exposed in 2026. Verónica Zambrano's ability to sustain the presidency of a key regulatory body during a period of high political turnover, or Paola Lazarte's influence in structuring complex projects after her ministerial tenure, represent leadership models that the market is rewarding with stability and access to capital.

The leadership community within GRI Institute has identified this transition as one of the key analytical themes for its 2026 regional gatherings. The question for investors and developers is no longer whether the composition of decision-making tables matters, but how to accelerate the incorporation of profiles that demonstrate the combination of technical rigor, regulatory expertise, and execution capacity that the current cycle demands.

Andean real estate stands at a fork in the road. Players who understand that institutional governance has replaced relational capital as the determining factor of success will hold a competitive advantage. Those who continue operating under the logic of the previous cycle will face the same fate as the names that dominated the headlines of February 2026 — this time not for their achievements, but for their liquidation proceedings.