Opportunity knocks for Roosevelt Roads

Extensive tracts of land at the former United States Navy base at Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico have been earmarked for major development projects over the new few years.

By the end of this year the master developers will have been chosen to take the various projects through to completion.

Roosevelt Roads – affectionately known as Roosey Roads (pronounced ‘Rosy’) – is a huge area of land adjacent to the town of Ceiba in the east of Puerto Rico. Established during the Second World War, it was an important naval station until 2004 when military personnel were withdrawn. This left more than 8,500 acres of vacant land, of which an area of some 3,000 acres has been identified for public development.

Reconfigured

Some local pressure to develop the site as a container transshipment port – which dates back several decades – has been widely discounted as totally impractical. Instead, it is expected that the existing port facility will be reconfigured to serve the tourism industry, including a cruise ship terminal and ferry berths to connect Puerto Rico with the neighboring islands.

More than US$2 billion of investment is being sought by the Local Redevelopment Authority (LRA) for Roosevelt Roads to redevelop the area over a period of 25 years. This scheme is expected to create in excess of 20,000 jobs and to be a major economic earner for the local population.

The process is already well under way. In the first phase, the LRA has selected four master developers. The second phase, to be completed by December this year, will involve requesting and evaluating their proposals through a Request for Proposals (RFP) process.

Read more: Puerto Rico