As I was walking down the Paseo de la Reforma I passed the U.S. Embassy building... or I should say the former embassy. I knew that a new embassy was being built, but I did not realize that it was already open.
The old building, a chunky, non-descript structure, still surrounded by impenetrable fencing, did not add any beauty or grace to the boulevard. Although there were still some lights on inside, the building is closed, and a sign on the fencing says that all consular activities had been transferred to the new location. The old embassy was no longer big enough to handle all its functions. (When Alejandro applied for his U.S. tourist visa years ago, he had to go to another building several blocks away.) I read on the internet that the old building will eventually be decommissioned and the property sold. This is prime real estate, located along the city's most iconic boulevard and tucked between the Sheraton María Isabel Hotel, and the very posh, new Sofitel Hotel.
Along with the old embassy, hopefully, the ugly barricades along the boulevard's pedestrian walkway will disappear.
The new embassy is located in the neighborhood of "Nuevo Polanco" on the site of a former Colgate Palmolive factory. It is the largest U.S. embassy in the world and the largest United States government building outside of the U.S. It cost 1.2 billion dollars.
On the internet I found this photo of the building while it was still under construction. It looks fortress-like in a "brutalist" style of architecture. I find it imposing but not really attractive.
The embassy did not open until November of 2025, but it was dedicated in December of 2024, while Joseph Biden was still President. Outgoing U.S. ambassador, Kenneth Salazar, a Biden appointee, make some pointed comments in his dedication speech. Without naming names he said that the vision of building walls and viewing some people as inferior was not his vision of U.S.-Mexican relations.
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