Puerto Rico Approves Multi-Billion Dollar Development on Southwest Coast

A major tourism project on the southwest coast of Puerto Rico has been approved. Set across more than 2,000 acres and featuring five kilometres of tranquil beaches, Esencia will offer 500 luxury hotel rooms and suites and 1,200 private residences. 

Representing a $2 billion+ private investment, the project has announced it will include global hospitality brands Mandarin Oriental and Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, along with additional partners to be announced this summer.

This approved master plan has been subject to years of environmental analysis, multi-agency reviews, and community consultation, and the developers say its success reflects Esencia’s commitment to sustainable, responsible development. 

Audubon International has formally accepted the development to pursue Signature Platinum Certification, the organization’s highest and rarest distinction. Once complete, the developers say Esencia will become the largest project of its kind to receive this certification, setting a model for future environmentally conscious luxury development.

Esencia will also be a catalyst for economic growth in Puerto Rico. The project is projected to generate over 17,000 direct, indirect, and induced jobs and to drive more than $7 billion in long-term economic activity.

Construction is poised to begin, with the first hotel, collection of residences, resilient infrastructure and new amenities for the local community breaking ground in phase one. Formal sales will commence in the fourth quarter of this year. Esencia is anticipated to welcome its first residents and guests in late 2029.

More than 75% of Esencia will be dedicated to conservation, green space, active and passive recreation, and community. This includes restoring more than 33 acres of wetlands, rehabilitating coastal dunes and mangrove ecosystems and expanding bird habitats.