Puerto Rico clears USD 2 billion Esencia project amid green backlash

Puerto Rico has approved the USD 2 billion Esencia luxury project in Cabo Rojo despite fierce objections from environmentalists. The decision sharpens a confrontation over transparency, sustainability and pressure on fragile coastal ecosystems.

In Short

• Puerto Rico approved a USD 2 billion luxury project in Cabo Rojo
• Esencia plans hotels, homes, golf courses, a school and medical centre
• Environmentalists allege the permit cleared without hearings or enough transparency

Puerto Rico's government has authorised the construction of a USD 2 billion luxury development in the island's southwest, drawing strong opposition from environmentalists who say it would put pressure on resources and threaten wildlife.

The project, called Esencia, is planned across 2,000 acres in the coastal town of Cabo Rojo. Developers said more than 75 per cent of the site would be set aside for conservation and green space, while critics said the approval was granted without enough public scrutiny.

According to the approval issued late on Thursday by Puerto Rico's Adjunct Board of the Permit Management Office and shared with The Associated Press on Friday, the project would include 500 luxury hotel rooms, 1,200 private residences, two golf courses, an equestrian centre, a school from kindergarten to 12th grade, and a 24/7 medical centre, among other facilities.

Global investment firm Reuben Brothers and real estate development company Three Rules Capital said in a statement on Friday that the project would include the restoration of roughly 33 acres of wetlands, along with the rehabilitation of coastal dunes and mangrove ecosystems. They also said the development would run entirely on renewable energy and would have its own water and energy infrastructure. Hotel brands that have joined the project so far are Mandarin Oriental and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.

Environmentalists criticised the approval. Braulio Quintero, executive director of the Puerto Rico-based Institute for Socio-Ecological Research and among those opposing the project, said, "We are going to fight this in every forum possible." He criticised officials for approving construction "without a public hearing, without governmental transparency" and called on the developers to face Puerto Ricans. "These individuals must be subjected to public scrutiny," he said. "These are serious threats to our sustainability as a people."

The developers have said they will protect the environment and maintain public access to the beach. They said the project is expected to create more than 17,000 jobs and would set a benchmark for "environmentally conscious luxury development". They added that sales would begin later this year, with the first residents and guests expected in late 2029.

The approval of Esencia has set up a clash between the developers' claims of conservation-led planning and the concerns raised by environmental groups over transparency, sustainability and the impact of a large luxury project in Puerto Rico's southwest.

With PTI Inputs

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