The Adamar site in Bahía Solimán has become a cautionary landmark on Tulum’s coast. Local reporting says engineers have spotted new fissures in the unfinished structure, raising fresh questions about public safety and the project’s future. The building is already under legal pressure: a federal judge ordered its demolition in August for environmental violations, and state and federal authorities later seized the property to stop any further work.
Tulum building collapse risk
Municipal civil protection officials flagged trouble well before this week’s warning. In late 2024, Tulum’s Protección Civil inspected the Adamar site and concluded the structure showed a lateral tilt, describing it as compromised. That inspection followed complaints from environmental advocates who had documented irregularities at the project. The finding—an inclined frame on a coastal lot—put the public on notice that safety wasn’t only an environmental story.
The legal track has moved in parallel. On Aug. 14, 2025, a federal court ordered the Adamar building demolished and the damaged dune ecosystem restored. Coverage at the time detailed a seven-story plan with 24 apartments in Obra Negra and noted the structure’s proximity to the Xcacel-Xcacelito sea turtle sanctuary. The court assigned the federal environmental agency, Profepa, the task of ensuring the teardown and overseeing the restoration.
Even after that ruling, the site’s legal status tightened further. On Sept. 23, 2025, a criminal judge in Tulum authorized authorities to seize the property. Profepa was designated custodian to safeguard the site during ongoing investigations, ending any prospect of quiet workarounds. That step followed repeated closures due to missing permits.
Tulum building collapse risk now intersects with an enforcement timeline that has struggled to keep pace with construction on the ground. Residents have watched a high-rise skeleton loom over a delicate stretch of coast while paperwork and court orders caught up. The human questions are immediate: who is responsible for keeping people out, for securing materials on-site, and for removing a structure that city inspectors said was leaning?
What the courts already decided
The environmental case is robust. La Jornada’s reporting on the judgment says the court found violations that damaged roughly 731 square meters of coastal dune and ordered demolition within a defined window, with restoration to follow. Mexico News Daily’s coverage also noted that Profepa must collect outstanding fines from the developer and ensure the land returns to its natural state. Those are concrete obligations, not suggestions.
The paperwork trail is revealing, too. After work had already begun, the promoter filed an environmental impact statement seeking to regularize operations. That filing describes a multi-level building with underground and amenity floors and lists 16 apartments—a picture that conflicts with court descriptions and marketing for a larger, taller project. The mismatch helps explain why environmental and urban-development authorities pushed for a hard stop.
Safety sits alongside those legal issues. When a structure shows tilt and visible cracking, the risk isn’t only to eventual occupants. It’s to the workers who may still be near the site, to passersby on a narrow coastal strip, and to first responders who would have to intervene if something fails. That is why civil protection findings matter—and why new engineering concerns have set off alarms again. Boldly put, this is about people’s safety, not just permits.
Where does this leave Tulum? First, there is a court-ordered demolition that must be executed and verified by federal authorities. Second, with a seized site that cannot proceed while investigations continue. And third, with a public-safety question that won’t ease until the structure comes down or is made safe. If officials confirm new fissures, temporary exclusion zones and round-the-clock security may be prudent until demolition mobilizes.
