Gov’t looking for firms to develop mixed-use complex at Roosey Roads
The Local Redevelopment Authority is reviewing the proposals.
The Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) for Naval Station Roosevelt Roads in Ceiba, Puerto Rico, recently issued a request for proposals seeking submissions from proponents with the expertise and capability “to sustainably design, build, operate, maintain and finance a mixed-income residential, hospitality and golf course at the former military facility.
The project will be developed on an approximately 800-acre lot on the property and “represents the largest concentration of mixed-income residences available to the public within the property,” the agency stated in the RFP issued in July.
Proponents had until Aug. 23 to submit their plans, and the agency is now reviewing the proposals, an LRA official said.
In the RFP, the LRA specifies that the development project must include a residential area featuring any of the following: a hospitality component (such as hotels and resorts), single or multifamily residences, condominiums, condo-hotels, affordable housing, or “any other potential use capable of generating economic activity in harmonious coexistence with the other uses proposed by proponent for the project property.”
The project must include at least one, but no more than two, golf courses. If the proposal includes one or more hotels, the proponent may include a casino within each hotel, up to two.
“Within the project site is an area of approximately 27.9 acres known as the ‘hospital parcel,’ which is restricted to use only as a hospital and/or care-related services facility. The proponent must consider this when preparing its proposal and complying [sic] with such restrictions,” the RFP stated, referring to the base’s former naval hospital.
“As mentioned in the project description, the LRA aims to execute a development agreement with a developer and operator who can promote economic development, foster economic growth, create jobs and attract critical mass to [the naval station],” the LRA stated in the RFP.
This is the LRA’s most recent effort to lock down a developer for mixed-use projects at the former naval station. In 2020, Loopland Development broke ground on what would have been the first mixed-use complex on the property, covering 1,100 acres. That project was to include 500 high-end residential units, 50 condo-hotel units, a private golf course and other amenities.
However, late last year, the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico shot down the project after finding that the contracts were awarded without promoting market competition. The contracts also only involved direct negotiations with only one proponent and were not submitted for review and approval as required by the fiscal panel’s contract review policy and the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act.
