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Este informe no está disponible en español. CARIBBEAN BUSINESSCeiba Undergoes Housing BoomBy LIDA ESTELA RUAÑOFebruary 7, 2002 Ceiba is a beehive of construction activity where housing development investments near $150 million. The northeastern coastal town, best known as the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s largest naval base outside the continental U.S., covers a 27.5-square-mile area, with an estimated population in 1999 of 18,511 and one of the island’s highest per capita income levels, estimated in 1998 at $22,012. Other construction in the area includes the Puerto del Rey Marina project, whose hotel alone is $150 million, with a 4,000-unit housing development targeted to upper-middle and high-net-worth individuals. (CB Jan. 31) The area’s new housing developments range from the social interest units selling for $70,000 to walk-up style apartments for as little as $87,000, and single-family homes in the $250,000 range. The Puerto del Rey walk-ups, villas, and lots will start in the $200,000s. The marina, which adjoins the Roosevelt Roads Naval Base, comprises two municipalities, Ceiba and Fajardo. Vista del Rey, on PR 3, in Barrio Machos, consists of single-family units, starting at $175,000. Project planner Eduardo Oliver Polanco said the smallest lots are 450 square meters and the homes have four bedrooms and two baths. Some of the lots have views of Puerto del Rey Marina, hence the name of the urbanization. The project is slated to start this year and take 12 to 18 months to complete. Also on PR 3, close to the center of town is Mora Development’s Paseos de Ceiba, 157 single-family social-interest homes on 300-square-meter lots to sell for $70,000. The $8.5 million project’s first units are being delivered now and the total project will be completed this year. Costa Esmeralda is a 224-unit, walk-up style apartment complex in Barrio Machos with units starting at $87,000. The $21.1 million development by IDI Holding Inc. started delivery six months ago and there are 10 yet to be completed. Another of the company’s projects is Costa Brava. Architect Alvin Fernandez, designer of the projects, said construction of the 188 walk-ups will start in April and be completed within 18 to 24 months. The walk-ups, with three bedrooms and two baths, range from $112,000 to $140,000 in the nearly $14 million project. "The first phase of the project sold in a week, with 98% of the buyers planning to use the apartments as second homes," Fernandez said adding the buildings are four stories high. Also in Barrio Machos, there is another $6 million apartment project of 138 units for which details were not available as of press time. In the pipeline for Barrio Saco is a 180-unit walk-up apartment complex, each with three bedrooms, two baths, planned to sell for an average $170,000, according to Antonio Bastard. The $30.6 million project is located on PR53. Bastard also has another project in the same neighborhood, where he will sell 50 lots of 1,000 square meters each. Each lot has a price tag of $50,000. The project is now in the permitting process. In the Chupacallos Barrio, Bastard is also in the permitting process for a $2 million 68,000-square-foot commercial project. Bastard said he may sell the rights to the project once he obtains all the permits. This Caribbean Business article appears courtesy of Casiano Communications.
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