Resilient Caribbean Community Wins AIA 2023 Award

Ponce Paradise in Ponce, Puerto Rico, receives the AIA Potomac Valley 2023 award for Urban Design and Master Planning.

Design Challenge: Is it possible to build a sustainable Caribbean community next to the ocean that is resilient to sea level rise?

Project Answer:? The 821-acre project designed by WINSTANLEY Architects & Planners incorporates new thinking about water. The design draws from the best in-class programs from traditional mixed-use developments and innovative aquatic engineering/architecture systems. ?In Ponce Paradise, both the sea and fresh water is encouraged to enter the property. By allowing the sea water to enter, costly walls, jetties, breakwaters, and other artificial structures are eliminated. The innovative design is entirely wholistic (no need to broach the waterline) and boasts a signature internal canal system that provides long-term solutions to climate change and rising sea levels. ?

?“Ponce was hit hard by the recent earthquake and 2017 hurricanes. This masterful master plan is impressive with the multitude of distinctive settings and urban fabric that showcase emerging lifestyles within a coastal setting. There were clear qualities of how the architecture, urban design, landscape and architecture blend. We really thought that the integration of waterways and other elements provide a fun place to live, work, and play. This plan builds upon the placemaking principals of the surrounding community.” Anson Stuart, AIA Potomac Valley Award Panel.

Architects: Michael Winstanley AIA, Leejung Hong LEED AP, George Eisenberger AIA.

Landscape Architect: LandDesign

Developer Advisor: AG&T, Adam Greenfader MRED, ?Alberto Hernandez, AIA

2023 AIAPV?Jury: Jeffrey Huber FAIA Chair, Jose Lobo AIA, Margi Nothard AIA, Cristin Peacock AIA, Anson Stuart AIA.?

Innovation in Design

?Natural water elements play a major role in the design of the Ponce Paradise master plan.? A key design parameter has been to allow the water to enter the property. By allowing the sea water to enter, costly walls, jetties, breakwaters, or other artificial structures are eliminated.? In addition to the Caribbean Sea, the site also abuts the Bucana River. The river is a recently restored waterway that connects the Northern sector of the city to the Caribbean Sea and Port of Ponce.

Ponce Paradise’s signature natural design will be the creation of a world class gigantic beach lagoon that will span over 500 yards?(457 meters) and create over one mile of?white sand beach. The beach lagoon will host activities such as swimming, scuba diving, wind sailing, and non- motorized boating.?

Extending from the beach lagoon is the grand canal. The grand canal, inspired by some of the world’s great cities, will flow from the ocean to the heart of the site.? The canal will be designed as living and working marine thoroughfare. This unique water way will provide a fun and practical way for individuals to travel within Ponce Paradise. On either side of the canal, there will be a treelined pedestrian walkway, golf cart path, and meditation decks to enjoy the serenity of the water.

Question: Why is sustainability such an important factor for real estate right now?

?Answer: ?On the financial side, real estate is built and then sold. Weather-related crisis can have a devastating effect on operational risk.? This is especially true for long term assets that are held by ownership. If a hotel in the Caribbean, for example, cannot withstand hurricane force winds, floods, and mold, then it will suffer huge downtimes and repairs – in fact,? many hotels never come back on line at all.

"The buyers of large real estate properties such as ?hedge funds, family offices, and conservative financial intuitions, are evaluating their portfolios for climate risk. They are starting to come to the realization that an initial 15%-20% more in construction costs to make a project resilient and sustainable makes good business sense." Adam Greenfader

On the consumer side, developers are realizing that if they can stay open during times of crisis, occupancy will be 100%. During relief and rebuilding periods, hotels are a first line of defense hosting thousands of relief workers, insurance adjusters, and other critical workers.? It’s a win-win to be resilient and sustainable.? ?

Question: What does the future look like for large mixed-use developments like this in the Caribbean ? Where are they headed?

?Answer: Economies of scale seem to indicate that mixed use projects will only be getting larger and larger. The live-work-play concept is really taking hold as more people want to avoid traffic and be in the center of it all.

In Miami for example, three mega mixed-use projects have come on line recently: Brickell City Centre, Paramount World Center and Brightline. In the Caribbean, BahaMar on the island of Nassau and Camana Bay in the Cayman Islands opened ?projects that are first of its kind.

In conclusion, while we will never know which future project will stand above the rest, sustainability is here to stay and new towns like Ponce Paradise are changing the way we think about our relationship to water.

AG&T is a real estate development and advisory firm based in Miami, Florida. AG&T specializes in hospitality, residential, and commercial developments the Caribbean and Latin America. ?AG&T’s principal clients include hedge funds, private equity and other institutional capital groups and includes over 55 Caribbean developments valued over $1.5 ?billion dollars. The projects include master planned communities, hotels, and private island resorts.? Key projects located in Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Panama, Costa Rica, and Mexico.? ?

WINSTANLEY Architects & Planners is an award-winning architectural and planning design studio specializing in projects of distinction from a design, cultural, environmental and political perspective. With design workshops in Washington, DC and Miami, the firm is renowned for its ability to seamlessly integrate planning, architecture and interior design in projects across the academic, civic, commercial, hospitality, mixed-use, renovation/historic preservation, and residential sectors in North America and the Caribbean.