As “Nearshoring 2.0” continues to take shape, the North American industrial ecosystem is becoming more tightly integrated by the day, creating strong opportunities for U.S.-based industrial developers while also adding significant complexities to decisions related to project design and site-selection.
That’s the view of Daniela Villagran, who leads the industrial and logistics team in HFA’s Mexico City office, and Ana Larranaga, who supports national, local and international initiatives as HFA’s industrial-sector client partnership lead. They’re part of a collaborative, cross-border team that brings 30 years of industrial experience and includes specialists in engineering, refrigeration, automation, civil engineering and commissioning.
Tighter integration means more industrial opportunities in Mexico
A three-year-old rail line that links Canada, the United States and Mexico is already spurring major industrial and cold-storage projects in Mexican markets such as Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Ciudad Juárez, Querétaro and the Mexico City metroplex. Meanwhile, the country’s exports to the United States continue to grow.
In fact, they reached an all-time high of $545 billion in 2025, a 5.8% increase over 2024. “And 2026 has kept the momentum,” writes Pedro Casas Alatriste, CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce of Mexico. “In the first quarter alone, Mexico’s exports to the U.S. hit a record $138 billion, with Mexico accounting for 16.9% of all U.S. goods imports—ahead of Canada at 11.2% and China at 7.4%.”
Manufacturers are betting on North America and encouraging rules under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that will keep production anchored here. “Mexico remains central to the overall strategy of achieving greater efficiencies through tighter North American supply-chain integration,” Larranaga said.
Some U.S.-based industrial developers are gearing up to meet that demand by locating more manufacturing facilities, supplier parks and logistics and warehousing buildings in Mexico, especially near major border crossings and manufacturing hubs.
Compliance rules are reshaping design decisions
Especially given these growing complexities, finding the right site in Mexico requires a strong grasp of the country’s permitting environment, infrastructure networks, labor dynamics, transportation connectivity and industrial real estate corridors, Larranaga said.
“Site selection is becoming more strategic,” she explained. “To meet the evolving needs of manufacturers, it’s important for developers to weigh a host of interrelated factors. That includes not just land and construction costs but also things like supplier access, customs turnaround times and transportation connectivity.”
Not every industrial location in Mexico is equally positioned to meet those criteria.
“Developers need to understand that manufacturers have a lot on their plate right now,” Villagran noted. “They’re needing to reroute where their parts and materials come from, keep their sourcing compliant with tightening trade rules, and make sure they’re able to buy enough from North American suppliers to qualify for lower tariffs. It’s a lot to manage.”
These goals can and should shape industrial site selection and design in Mexico. A U.S.-based developer, for example, might plan an industrial park or campus so that the manufacturer and its key suppliers can co-locate on adjacent sites and share rail spurs, road access and utilities. “Part of our role is to make sure the design brief incorporates these kinds of strategic imperatives from day one,” Villagran said.
Local knowledge makes for faster project-delivery
The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) team also needs to understand the material choices, level of detail, professional certifications and building codes that prevail in Mexico, Villagran added. Just as acronyms like LEED, RFI, ADA and MEP are widely used in the United States, AEC pros in Mexico have their own alphabet soup of jargon and concepts. Examples include NTCs (for Normas Técnicas Complementarias) and design- and construction-related NOMs (for Normas Oficiales Mexicanas).
“There’s really a blend of mandatory and optional standards as well as local variations that you need to consider,” Villagran explained. “When your team lives and breathes the prevailing standards in things like electrical safety, energy efficiency, public-space design, accessibility and materials, it gives you a leg up on design and development.”
Understanding the utilities landscape is important as well, in part because obtaining actionable information from public officials can at times be difficult in parts of Mexico. “In some markets, access to power availability and reliability has become the deciding site-selection factor,” Larranaga said. “You want to have the right local partners in place to identify challenges early and evaluate realistic solutions before they become costly surprises.”
If the local power supply is inconsistent, this does not have to be an insurmountable obstacle. Engineers can help U.S. developers explore options like a hybrid microgrid that combines solar panels and battery storage with natural gas generators.
“Mexico is seeing a lot of growth in data centers, in particular,” Villagran noted. “In some cases, the location might be strong enough to justify extraordinary efforts to secure power and water supplies. Just remember that permitting and compliance could be a lengthy process.”
Early collaboration can lay the groundwork for nearshoring success
As they explore nearshoring opportunities in Mexico, U.S.-based industrial developers should start building relationships with public officials, economic development experts and AEC specialists. It’s the first step to developing a playbook that will allow them to be ready to build when their competitors are still deciding.
“Our view is that manufacturing has a bright future in North America,” Larranaga said. “For developers, success in today’s more tightly integrated supply chain will come from understanding how to build the right project in the right place.”
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