Roosevelt Roads power grid project in Ceiba wins two permit approvals
The public body redeveloping the former Roosevelt Roads naval station has two approved filings for a project of improvements to the station's electric power grid, according to permit filings analysed by RED Atlas. The project is Roosevelt Roads Electrical Power Grid Improvements - FEMA PA DR-4339 Project 95275, at Carr. PR-3, Km 51.4, Bo. Ceiba, Puerto Rico 00735.
The owner on the filings is Autoridad Para El Redesarrollo Local de Roosevelt Roads (lra), the Puerto Rico public corporation created to carry out the reuse plan and economic development of the former station's lands. The latest filing, case 2026-691294-DEC-332389, describes the work as Improvements to the electric power grid of the former Estación Naval Roosevelt Roads and lists its works topics as improvements, station.
The project name refers to FEMA's Public Assistance program, which gives supplemental grants to governments and certain private non-profits for restoring public infrastructure after disasters. It also refers to FEMA's federal major disaster declaration for Hurricane María in Puerto Rico.
Two approvals
The authority first submitted an infrastructure recommendation request on May 26, 2026, and that filing ended as infrastructure recommendation request, status approved, filed May 29, 2026. This kind of request goes to the permits office before a construction permit or consultation, to check whether infrastructure is available for a project.
The second filing is environmental compliance determination by categorical exclusion, status approved, filed September 29, 2026. That determination certifies that a predictable or routine action needs no further environmental planning.
A parcel with a long record
The parcel covers 2,448,800 m2 / 26,358,668 sq ft. The Puerto Rico Land Use Plan classifies it as urban land (59%), common rural land (34%), specially protected rural land of ecological value (7%). Urban land is served by roads, water, electricity and other infrastructure, though the class alone does not make a lot buildable. Common rural land stays out of urban development but is open to activities such as infrastructure, and the protected share covers places such as natural reserves. The parcel's zoning districts are E2 (34%), M1 (28%), E5 (28%), E1 (7%), DE (3%).
Across all years, the parcel has 26 permit filings. One earlier project, Corrective Measures Study Data Gap Investigation of SWMU 2 at Naval Activity Puerto Rico: Work approach for minimizing natural resource impact; environmental compliance determination by categorical exclusion, status denied, filed January 20, 2025; legal pre-consultation, filed January 20, 2025, sought a categorical exclusion that was denied, alongside a legal pre-consultation, an optional orientation that is not a final decision. That filing describes sampling at a waste disposal site that the U.S. Navy still owns until corrective action ends, after which the land is to pass to the authority.
Another, LoopLand Development - Desarrollo Antigua Base Naval Roosevelt Roads; environmental recommendation, status approved, filed May 23, 2023, won an environmental recommendation, a written opinion on whether a proposed action complies with applicable laws. That filing describes about 391 housing units, including affordable units, about 45 hotel lodging units, golf courses, docks and retail shops.
Filing activity in Ceiba
Ceiba had 44 infrastructure recommendation requests over the past 12 months, more than the 35 in the 12 months before that. That suggests a busier year for this kind of filing in the municipality.
Categorical exclusion filings in Ceiba moved the other way, with 29 over the past 12 months, fewer than the 43 in the 12 months before that. In the Guayacán neighbourhood, other parcels drew 6 permit filings over the past 90 days.
An infrastructure recommendation comes before a construction permit or consultation, so one of those is the next filing that could appear in the grid project's record.