by Allan Wall
The new billion-dollar U.S. embassy in Mexico is now open for business. It was dedicated way back on December 17th, 2024, but more work was still to be done.
Finally, on November 24th, 2025, the embassy was open for business providing all consular services.
From the embassy website: “The United States Embassy in Mexico is now operating at its new location. Effective November 24, 2025, all consular services — including visa interviews and services for U.S. citizens — are conducted exclusively at the new Embassy compound.”
It’s the biggest U.S. embassy in the world. It has seven stories, two of which are under ground level.
Embassy construction is the responsibility of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO). The architectural firms are Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects and Davis Brody Bond Architects. Caddell Construction is the general contractor.
The embassy is located on an 8.5 acre site, formerly the site of a Colgate-Palmolive factory. A toxic cleanup had to be carried out on the site before building.
Construction began in 2018 and it cost over a billion dollars to build.
Here is a proposal illustration generated in the early stages of the project:
From the OBO website: “This embassy will consolidate over 530,000 square feet of diplomatic operations, bringing together over 1,400 staff previously spread across multiple sites in the city. OBO embassies and consulates often are the first experience host country citizens and government officials have with the United States overseas and the embassy is designed to streamline the flow of visitors.”
“To ease traffic impact and improve security, the embassy features discrete entrances for various functions. To the north, one entrance accommodates the large number of consular visitors and another welcomes visitors to the Benjamin Franklin Center.”
“The building’s seven floors include two below-grade levels that balance its size without sacrificing usable space.”
“By incorporating the Benjamin Franklin Center on-site, the embassy has a flexible programming space to conduct a broad range of public engagement activities that promote U.S. political and economic goals.”
“An estimated total work force of 2,500 U.S., Mexican and third-country nationals were engaged in the construction of the new embassy.”
The OBO statement says that the new embassy brings “together over 1,400 staff” but a November 26th statement from U.S. Ambassador Ron Johnson reports “over 1,500 employees now working under the same roof“.
Click here for a brief video of Ambassador Johnson entitled “My first day at the historic new U.S. Embassy in Mexico”. The video was released on November 26th, and may have been filmed on the 24th or 25th, or early on the 26th.
My first day at the historic new U.S. Embassy in Mexico #NuevaEmbajada pic.twitter.com/TFR44rgTJM
— Embajador Ronald Johnson (@USAmbMex) November 26, 2025
By Allan Wall
Source: Mexico News Report
