What was slated to become one of the biggest real estate developments in Latin America might well end up as the fourth section of the Chapultepec Forest in the country’s capital.

Valued at US $1 billion and described as the most lucrative land sale in Mexico ever, that sale of the 125-hectare parcel of land in Mexico City was cancelled yesterday by the seller, the federal government.

The government said in January that the land, formerly a military base, was no longer required by the army or any other public institution, and that the monies obtained from its sale would be transferred to the federal treasury.

The land is now in being eyed by Álvaro Obregón borough chief-elect Layda Sansores San Román, who is planning to discuss the property with president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Mexico City Mayor-elect Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo.

Sansores intends to ask López Obrador to turn over the property to Mexico City to allow it become an additional part of the Chapultepec Forest.

She said she welcomed the cancellation of the sale, which avoided the land being used in a manner “contrary to the common good and at the expense of the environment . . . and the wellbeing of the people of Álvaro Obregón and Mexico City.

The sale of the base had met with opposition from local residents who argued that its development would place further pressure on already stretched infrastructure.

Source: El Financiero (sp)