Zona 11

About Zona 11:

Zona 11 fills the west of the city between the Calzada Roosevelt and the Calzada Raúl Aguilar Batres, with Zona 7 to the north, Zonas 8 and 12 to the east and Mixco along its western edge. The Calzada Roosevelt, opened in September 1968 and named in thanks for a United States donation, is part of the CA-1 Interamericana and the main way out to Mixco and the western highlands. The Anillo Periférico cuts through the middle of the zone, and since 2019 Transmetro Line 7 has run along it, with stops at its junctions with 17, 18 and 20 calle, calle Mariscal and the Calzada Roosevelt. On the eastern edge, Line 12 runs down Aguilar Batres and stops at Mariscal station. Where the Roosevelt meets the Periférico, with Walmart, Peri Roosevelt and Miraflores on its corners, is what locals call the heart of the Roosevelt.

Before the colonias, this was farmland. Finca Las Charcas, owned in the nineteenth century by Tadeo Piñol y Batres, ran across what are now Las Majadas and the Periférico, and Piñol’s heirs split it into smaller pieces early in the twentieth century. Between 1930 and 1955 the firm Dorión Hermanos sold the land in cheap lots that came without proper streets or drainage, which made every rainy season hard going for the first owners. Colonia Mariscal, named for the river whose bed began west of the old finca, grew out of that sale; Colonia Roosevelt followed in the 1950s and Jardines de Utatlán II was founded in 1964. Hospital Roosevelt, begun in 1944 on the old Finca La Esperanza, opened in December 1955 with 300 beds.

The hospital set the tone, and medicine is still a large part of daily life here. The Hospital de Ojos y Oídos Dr. Rodolfo Robles Valverde and the Hospital Hermano Pedro are here too, along with the Universidad de San Carlos’s Centro Universitario Metropolitano on 9a avenida, the Universidad Rural and the Colegio Santa Teresita. Miraflores opened in 2003 on ground that belonged to Kaminaljuyú, the ancient Maya city; pyramid structures and adobe mounds turned up during construction, and the Museo Miraflores inside the complex displays what was found. Tikal Futura, built in the late 1990s, groups two 19-floor office towers, a 14-floor hotel and a convention centre behind façades drawn from a pyramid outline. Majadas Once on 27 avenida and Peri Roosevelt round out the shopping, and the Dirección General de Educación Física and the Cejusa fields serve sport.

Zona 11 is a mixed market: most colonias are middle-income, with pockets of higher-value streets. Families who have held the same house for decades are the backbone of Mariscal, Utatlán and Granai & Townson, and in those colonias buying is the norm. The towers around Mariscal sell to first-time buyers and to investors who plan to let, and a good share of their units go to tenants. Short trips to the hospitals, the CUM and the USAC campus, plus two Transmetro lines, are what those towers sell themselves on.

Houses in Zona 11:

Mariscal is the classic address: detached houses with a front garden and a garage on wide streets with broad pavements, though some of the larger plots are now offered as development sites as towers move in around them. Granai & Townson, in sections I, II and III, has two-level houses of three and four bedrooms on lots of around 9 by 20 metres, some behind a garita and some on open streets with a guard. Utatlán II mixes gated streets with corner houses that carry a residential and commercial classification, and its bigger homes run to seven bedrooms. When you compare houses for sale in Zona 11, ask for the lot’s classification in the municipal Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial: a lot classed G4 or G5 allows more mixed use than a purely residential one, and that changes what the house is worth to you. Colonia Roosevelt has older houses, some with seven or more rooms, and Mirador I adds another set of family homes.

Apartments in Zona 11:

Almost all the new apartment building has landed in and around Mariscal. Villa Mariscal, by Íntegro at 17 calle 13-63, puts 648 one- to three-bedroom units in four towers of 10 and 11 floors on an 11,300 m² site, with shared amenities and a commercial area on the ground floor. Aralia and Aralia II, also in Mariscal, offer two- and three-bedroom units of roughly 60 to 95 m², ready for delivery. Parque San Jorge is mostly three-bedroom flats of 70 to 80 m², and Vidalta, with access from Aguilar Batres, the Periférico and 13 calle, adds a pool, gym, coworking room and running track. Altaire offers two- and three-bedroom units with 360-degree views from the upper floors. Jardines de Las Charcas and Balmes 47 widen the choice of apartments in Zona 11.

Rentals in Zona 11:

Renting here mostly means a unit in one of the towers. Villa Mariscal lets studios from 27 m² and two-bedroom flats, Vidalta has one- and two-bedroom units, Parque San Jorge lets three-bedroom flats, and furnished apartments in Altaire come with maintenance included. In Colonia Roosevelt you find ground-floor flats with their own patios, and houses in Granai & Townson are offered to rent as homes or as offices. Before you sign for apartments for rent in Zona 11, decide which line you will actually use, Line 7 on the Periférico or Line 12 on Aguilar Batres, and walk to that station.

Land and Lots in Zona 11:

The zone is built out, so land comes as single urban lots or as old houses sold for what stands under them. Las Charcas has lots of over 1,200 m² with frontages near 27 metres, and commercial plots come up close to the Calzada Roosevelt. Height is the first thing to settle. Aeronáutica Civil sets the ceiling in metres above sea level, not in floors, so the same limit allows fewer storeys on higher ground. A 2020 resolution that raised the ceiling for Zona 11 was revoked and the earlier limit of 1,551 metres came back, and in 2026 the authority was finalising a higher limit of 1,605 metres for the sector between Majadas, the Periférico and Aguilar Batres. Get the figure that applies to your exact coordinates in writing before you price a lot for a tower.

New Developments in Zona 11:

Parque Mariscal is the largest project now selling off plan: 294 one- to three-bedroom apartments across 25 levels, with four lifts, eight basements and 16 floor plans, and delivery estimated for 2028. Desarrollos Palo Blanco has launched Altea Mariscal in the same colonia, and units in Villa Mariscal also change hands as resales. With the height rules under review, buying new developments in Zona 11 off plan should include a look at the building licence and the height clearance the project actually holds, not just the renderings.

Offices, Warehouses and Commercial Space in Zona 11:

The Calzada Roosevelt is the zone’s business front. Tikal Futura leases offices in its two towers, and the shopping centres along the calzada let retail space. Large warehouses sit on the Roosevelt itself, with one in Toledo covering more than 11,000 m², while the edges of Mariscal and Las Charcas hold ofibodegas of around 200 m² for storage and small distributors. Traffic on the Roosevelt is constant, so check how a truck gets in and out before you commit to a warehouse here.

FAQ:

• If there are height limits, how did the tallest building in Guatemala end up in Zona 11?

  Altaire went up while a 2020 resolution allowed taller buildings in parts of Zona 11. That resolution was later revoked and the previous ceiling of 1,551 metres above sea level came back, and in 2026 Aeronáutica Civil was working on a higher limit of 1,605 metres for the area between Majadas, the Periférico and Aguilar Batres. The rule that applies to any one lot depends on where it sits under the approach to La Aurora, so ask for it by coordinates.

• Can I live in Zona 11 without a car?

  Many people do. Transmetro Line 7 runs along the Periférico between the USAC campus and Zona 1, with stops through the middle of the zone, and Line 12 runs down Aguilar Batres on the eastern edge. Buses on the Calzada Roosevelt link the zone with Mixco and the centre. The Roosevelt is one of the busiest roads in the city, so try the trip at the hour you will actually make it.

• What should I check before buying an older house in Mariscal or Granai?

  These colonias were sold in lots from the 1930s onward and many houses have since been extended or split, so start with a certification of the finca from the property registry and compare its area and boundaries with what you measure on site. Ask for the municipal licence for any added floor. Check the lot’s POT classification if you plan an office or clinic, and whether the street sits inside or outside a garita, because that affects parking, visitors and resale.

• Is Zona 11 better for buying or for renting?

  It depends on the stock. In Mariscal, Utatlán and Granai & Townson most houses are owner-occupied and change hands as sales. In the towers around Mariscal a large share of the units are bought to let, so renters have more choice there, from studios to three-bedroom flats.

• Are there gated streets in Zona 11?

  Yes, though not everywhere. Parts of Utatlán II and Granai & Townson sit behind garitas, while some streets in Granai are open and watched by a private guard. The new towers have their own controlled access. If security at the gate matters to you, confirm on the visit which side of the garita the house is on.