Featured Project: Emerald Vista
Written By AD&V®
ABOUT THE AUTHOR | AD&V® is dedicated to advanced and energy-efficient sustainable architecture & interior design that enhances people’s experience of the world and improves their lives.
THE EMERALD VISTA DEVELOPMENT WILL CREATE A RESILIENT COMMUNITY WHERE EVERYONE FEELS SAFE, CONNECTED, AND PROUD.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
View of the Emerald Vista construction site.
Master-planned and designed by Álvarez-Díaz & Villalón (AD&V) the Emerald Vista project began its construction in March 2019. The project is located on the 21 acres site of the former Jose Gautier Benitez Public Housing Development in Caguas Puerto Rico, at the northwest corner of San Carlos and Guayama Streets. In 2015, AD&V began working on the planning and design of the development and divided the site into six residential blocks. Five blocks are dedicated to family housing and the northwest block is reserved exclusively for elderly housing. The design of small city blocks with connecting streets, takes into consideration the pedestrian and vehicular traffic flows all within a human scale. As a result, the development encourages economic activity and promotes social and economic development within the community.
DESIGN & IMPROVEMENTS
View of the Emerald Vista construction site.
View of the Emerald Vista construction site.
AD&V is serving as both the architect and interior designer of the Emerald Vista project that will include both family apartments, as well as a five-story elderly housing facility. The five blocks of family housing consist of 238-unit mixed-income, mixed-use walk-up, and townhouse apartments with community and support areas, while the design of the elderly development consists of a 200-unit 5-story building, divided into three wings: north, west, and south. The first floor of the north wing is approximately 5,255 square feet along with service areas in the remaining areas. The first story of the west wing has approximately 6,000 square feet that’s divided into administration areas, community rooms, fitness, and game rooms. The second through fifth floors of the north and west wings, and the five stories of the south wing house the elderly residential units. Both family and elderly housing units include excellent amenities for their residents. Site improvements designed by AD&V include new landscaping, street lighting, parking, walkways, playgrounds, community gardens, and other amenities typically associated with market-rate development.
RESILIENCY MEASURES
View of the Emerald Vista construction site.
The development of this new mixed-use and mixed-income housing community was designed with energy conservation and resiliency measures including Energy Star appliances, photovoltaic panels, emergency power generation, insulated stormproof windows, environmentally conscious building materials, and methods, as well as universal design.
CREATING COMMUNITIES
View of the Emerald Vista construction site.
Emerald Vista is the third project of its kind in Puerto Rico developed by the same developer-contractor-architect team, AD&V and McCormack Baron Salazar. The goal of this project was to provide the tenant with a new housing offer by creating a resilient community where everyone feels safe, connected, and proud. This mix-income project is set to be completed by 2022, so stay tuned for more updates coming soon!