Fortaleza Embassies South of the Border

The Office of Overseas Buildings Operations is on a roll today. First, they complete construction of a new embassy in Burkina Faso, and next they break ground on a new consulate in Monterrey, Mexico.

Deputy Chief of Mission, John Feeley; Consul General, Bruce Williamson; Governor Rodrigo Medina; Mayor of Santa Catarina Nuevo Leon, Gabriel A. Navarro Rodriguez; and the Managing Director for Construction, Facility, and Security Management of the Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), Rod Evans, broke ground on the New Consulate Compound (NCC) in Monterrey today.

The construction of the NCC reflects the importance of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Mexico and is a step forward in cooperation and partnership between our nations -- a partnership based on mutual interests, mutual respect, and mutual responsibility.

The project consists of a consulate building, three compound access control facilities, a parking garage, a recreation facility, a vehicle maintenance facility, and a mail screening facility. The NCC will provide a safe, secure, and functional facility for the 217 employees who will work at the consulate. The NCC will replace the current leased consulate which has been occupied by the U.S. Government since 1969.

The Monterrey NCC is the third major project undertaken by OBO in Mexico in the last ten years. The consulate in Ciudad Juárez was completed in 2008 and the consulate in Tijuana is expected to be completed in June 2010.

Yates Desbuild of Philadelphia, Mississippi has been selected to construct the consulate in Monterrey. The scheduled completion date for the Monterrey NCC is January 2013.