House construction in Holbox
Design, licence and construction with a single contractor, for clients who live outside Mexico.
Holbox is a car-free island inside the Yum Balam protected area, and every bag of cement crosses from Chiquilá by barge. Building here is above all a logistics and permitting exercise, and only then a construction one.
Yum Balam: the management plan decides first
The whole island sits within the Yum Balam Flora and Fauna Protection Area, so the CONANP management plan sets heights, densities and the share of each lot that can be built on before the municipality of Lázaro Cárdenas looks at the licence. We check a lot against the plan before design starts, because a scheme drawn for Cancún rarely survives the first review here.
Everything arrives by barge from Chiquilá
There are no trucks on the island: materials cross on barges from Chiquilá and move on sand streets by cart and tricycle. That decides the structural system. We favour elements that travel in manageable pieces, plan deliveries in consolidated loads to avoid paying the crossing twice, and keep a buffer stock on site because a windy week stops the barges.
Salt, sand and a water table you can touch
Holbox is a sand bar over limestone with the water table a short way below the surface, and the sea air reaches every façade. Foundations are shallow raft or reinforced footings on a compacted platform, steel gets extra cover, and all exterior hardware is 316 stainless. Waste water goes to an on-site treatment plant: the island has no capacity to absorb another septic tank.
Realistic budget and programme in Holbox
The range here is MXN 19,000 to 34,000 per m² (roughly USD 1,050 – 1,850/m²), the highest outside the luxury segment, because every material pays the crossing twice — road to Chiquilá and barge to the island — and specialist crews have to be housed on site for the duration.
A typical programme is twelve to sixteen months for 150–300 m², of which the CONANP and municipal reviews take a real share. Heights and footprints are modest by rule, so most Holbox houses are compact two-level schemes where the money goes into envelope quality rather than square metres.
What we deliver: design, licence and construction in one contract
We work turnkey. Lot survey and soil study, concept and executive design, licence filing with the responsible engineer, construction with our own crews, services, finishes, pool and landscaping, and handover with as-built drawings and equipment manuals. One contract, one point of contact and a programme that is not split across five suppliers blaming one another.
The budget comes out as line items with quantities and unit rates, not as a single lump figure. That way you can see where the money sits and what happens if a finish changes mid-build.
How it works when the client does not live in Mexico
Most of our clients are abroad while the house is being built. The system is designed for that: a weekly report with dated photographs, a fortnightly video call from site, a live budget where every change is signed off before it is executed, and payments against verified progress rather than against the calendar. We work in Spanish, English, German, French, Russian and Chinese.
If the property sits in the restricted zone, a bank trust (fideicomiso) is the usual holding vehicle; we coordinate with the notary and the bank so that the construction file and the ownership file advance in parallel.
The ground in Holbox: what it imposes on the project
- Municipality: Lázaro Cárdenas
- Environmental regime: CONANP (Yum Balam) + SEMARNAT + municipal
- Ground: sand bar over limestone
- Water table: very high, close to the surface
- Salt exposure: very high
A car-free island in a federal protected area: low heights, limited footprint and every load crossing by barge.
- Check the lot against the Yum Balam management plan before paying for design; it fixes what can be built.
- Plan deliveries in consolidated barge loads and keep a site buffer for days when the crossing is closed.
See the 42 mapped zones of the corridor in the zone checker.
Frequently asked questions
Can a foreigner build a house on Holbox?
Yes, through a bank trust (fideicomiso), because the island is in the restricted coastal zone. What matters more is the lot: its tenure must be regular and its use compatible with the Yum Balam management plan, which we verify before design.
Why does building on Holbox cost more than in Cancún?
Because of logistics: materials travel by road to Chiquilá and then by barge, move on sand streets without trucks, and the crews live on the island. The structure costs about the same; the freight and the time do not.
Do you work on a fixed budget or on a cost-plus basis?
A line-item budget with unit rates and a contracted amount. Any change is priced and signed before it is executed, and payments go against verified progress on site rather than against calendar dates.
What warranty do you give on the finished house?
One year on services and finishes and five years on structure and waterproofing, delivered with as-built drawings, technical datasheets and manuals for the installed equipment.
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