Puerto Rico Takes a Big Bite of the Big Apple

October 1, 2019, New York City– The Puerto Rico Builders Association takes a  big bite of the Big Apple at the 2019 Bisnow National Real Estate Finance Summit. The National Real Estate Finance Summit is one of the most esteemed, high-level, and best attended event in the nation. This year was no exception with over 300 attendees from finance, capital markets, financial advisory, private equity, and real estate.

The Puerto Rico panel included Ing. Emilio Colón Zavala,  President of the Puerto Rico Builders Association/ ECZ Group,  Eric Berman,  Chief Investment Officer at Lifeafar, Jorge Ruiz-Montilla, Capital Member and Chairman of the Real Estate & Finance Practice Group at MCconnell Valdes, Philip Carroll,  Director of Finance at Royal Palm Companies and Adam Greenfader, Managing Partner of AG&T.

Ethan Penner, best known  for creating the CMBS  market, key noted the event with insight on “high conviction investment themes.”  The Puerto Rico panel drew much interest at the Finance Summit. “We were impressed to hear from the leaders of the financial markets in New York that they see Puerto Rico as a great opportunity,  explained Emilio Colón Zavala. With less than 7% tourism GDP, there is room for 15,000 more hotel keys.’

Philip Carroll of Royal Palm Companies , concurred with the assessment of hospitality demand and explained some of the island’s competitive advantages in Puerto Rico including the ability to leverage Tourism Tax credits with Opportunity Zone incentives. Royal Palm is currently developing a 1,000 key hotel and marina resort on the island.  

 

Pictured Left to Right: Adam Greenfader, Emilio Colon Zavala, Philip Caroll, Marcial Diaz

 

The panel received multiple questions throughout the presentation.  Of particular interest, was the level of detail and financial sophistication about Act 20/22. Jorge Ruiz-Montilla explained some of the benefits of the laws and highlighted the island’s economic and political stability.

When asked, “Why now, why invest in Puerto Rico today”, the consensus of the group was clear…the numbers speak for themselves. “Puerto Rico  posted positive economic growth in 2019 and is forecasting a 2.5% GDP for 2020. We clearly hit bottom and with Billions of CDBG-DR money coming to the island in the next few years,  the time is now”, quoted Adam Greenfader, who moderated the Panel.

Lifeafar, a real estate investment and hospitality firm, recently expanded their operations from Medellin, Colombia to Puerto Rico.  “Puerto Rico is a place you can make a real change. Our investors want to make a good return on investment but also know they are helping to make a difference”, quoted Eric Berman.  

For more information about Puerto Rico,. You can join the Puerto Rico Builders Association on October 29-30 at their annual conference. See link attached. https://www.constructorespr.com/convencion/#eventbrite

 

About The Puerto Rico Builders Association

The Puerto Rico Builders Association is a non-profit organization established in 1951. The PRBA is the local chapter for the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). We proudly represent the leaders in housing, commercial and industrial and tourism sectors. We also represent investors and professionals related to the Puerto Rico’s real estate development and the construction industries. Our main objective is to promote and lead planned development, that is safe and sustainable, as to serve as an a principal productive economic driver motor for our island, in collaboration with the private and public sectors in Puerto Rico.

About AG&T

AG&T is a real estate development and consulting company founded in 1998 with headquarters in Miami, Florida. Our  track record spans over 55 real estate development projects in Puerto Rico, Sint Maarten, Costa Rica, Panama, Mexico, Dominican Republic, and various other Caribbean islands.

 

 

Caribbean Hospitality Summit Draws Record Numbers

The Caribbean’s Hospitality Renaissance:

 

For decades, the Caribbean has been recognized as one of the world’s premier tourism destinations. Today, it is emerging as one of the most compelling regions for hospitality investment, infrastructure development, and long-term capital deployment. At the center of that transformation is Puerto Rico—a market whose financial renaissance is helping redefine investment across the Caribbean.

At AG&T, we have had the privilege of participating in that evolution for more than three decades.

As a Caribbean real estate development and capital advisory firm, our mission extends well beyond individual transactions. We have worked to strengthen the economic ties between Puerto Rico, the U.S. mainland, and the broader Caribbean by bringing together developers, lenders, institutional investors, hospitality brands, family offices, government agencies, and industry leaders. We believe that successful hospitality markets are built on relationships, collaboration, and confidence in long-term investment.

This philosophy has guided AG&T’s partnerships with organizations such as the Puerto Rico Builders Association, the Urban Land Institute, Bisnow, hospitality conferences, investment forums, and numerous public and private initiatives designed to showcase the Caribbean as a world-class destination for investment as well as tourism.

One such milestone was the Puerto Rico Builders Association’s conference, where AG&T organized and moderated a discussion on the future of development finance featuring senior executives from FirstBank, the Economic Development Bank of Puerto Rico, and Acrecent Financial. While the conversation centered on financing new construction, it reflected something much larger: Puerto Rico’s financial sector was entering a new era, creating opportunities not only for the island, but for hospitality and real estate investment throughout the Caribbean.

Looking back today, that conversation marked the beginning of a broader transformation.

Puerto Rico has emerged from years of fiscal restructuring with renewed financial stability, strengthened institutions, and a growing ecosystem of capital providers. Traditional banks have returned to construction lending, private credit has expanded, institutional investors are increasingly active, and billions of dollars in federal investment have accelerated infrastructure modernization. Together, these developments have created one of the strongest investment environments the island has experienced in decades.

The implications extend far beyond Puerto Rico.

Hospitality has always been one of the Caribbean’s most important economic engines. Across the region, demand for luxury resorts, branded residences, mixed-use destinations, marinas, wellness communities, and experiential travel continues to grow. Meeting that demand requires sophisticated capital markets, experienced development partners, and trusted financial institutions.

Puerto Rico’s financial resurgence is helping create that foundation.

As capital markets mature and investor confidence grows, the island increasingly serves as a gateway for institutional investment into the Caribbean. International hotel brands, private equity firms, family offices, lenders, and developers are viewing the region with renewed optimism, supported by stronger financial structures and improved access to capital.

At AG&T, we have worked to help build those connections.

Through partnerships with organizations such as Bisnow, the Urban Land Institute, the Puerto Rico Builders Association, and numerous hospitality and investment organizations, we have organized conferences, investor forums, educational programs, and networking events that connect mainland U.S. capital with Caribbean opportunities. These initiatives are designed not simply to promote projects, but to foster meaningful dialogue between investors, public officials, hospitality leaders, financial institutions, and developers.

Our objective has remained remarkably consistent: position Puerto Rico and the Caribbean as globally competitive destinations for investment, innovation, and sustainable economic growth.

The Caribbean hospitality sector is entering a defining period. Record tourism, expanding airlift, increasing demand for luxury accommodations, resilient infrastructure, and growing interest from global investors are reshaping the region’s development landscape. At the same time, public-private partnerships, innovative financing structures, and collaborative leadership are creating opportunities that would have been difficult to imagine only a decade ago.

Economic transformation does not occur in isolation. It is the product of sustained collaboration among governments, financial institutions, developers, investors, and industry organizations that share a common vision.

Puerto Rico’s financial renaissance is strengthening not only the island’s economy, but also the future of Caribbean hospitality.

At AG&T, we are proud to continue serving as a bridge between Caribbean opportunity and global capital—helping build the relationships that will shape the region’s next generation of hospitality and real estate development.

Financing Puerto Rico’s Recovery: The Largest Reconstruction Program in Modern U.S. History

Financing Puerto Rico's Recovery: The Largest Reconstruction Program in Modern U.S. History

 

The rebuilding of Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and Maria represents far more than a disaster recovery effort.

It has become one of the largest public investment programs in modern American history and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to modernize the island’s housing, infrastructure, economy, and long-term resilience.

Recognizing the unprecedented scale of this transformation, The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College (CUNY) and the University of Puerto Rico Graduate School of Planning convened a conference bringing together public officials, planners, developers, financial institutions, and economic development professionals to explore how federal recovery programs could be leveraged to create lasting economic growth.

For AG&T, the discussion reinforced an important principle:

Recovery funding should not simply replace what was lost.

It should create a stronger Puerto Rico.

A Historic Investment

In the years following Hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico became the recipient of one of the largest federal reconstruction commitments ever made to a U.S. jurisdiction.

Federal funding has supported the rebuilding of schools, hospitals, roads, bridges, airports, ports, electrical infrastructure, water systems, housing, public facilities, and community resilience initiatives.

Equally important, these programs created opportunities to combine public funding with private investment to accelerate long-term economic development.

Rather than viewing disaster assistance as an isolated funding source, many projects began leveraging multiple federal and local programs to improve financial feasibility and maximize community impact.

Building a Comprehensive Capital Stack

One of the central themes of the conference was understanding how different federal programs could work together.

Successful projects increasingly combined grants, tax incentives, private equity, debt financing, and public-private partnerships to create sustainable investment structures.

Among the most important programs discussed were:

Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR)

The CDBG-DR program became one of the primary funding mechanisms supporting Puerto Rico’s long-term recovery.

Unlike traditional disaster assistance, CDBG-DR provides flexible funding for housing, infrastructure, economic revitalization, planning, and community development projects designed to strengthen resilience while improving quality of life.

These investments continue to transform communities throughout the island.

Opportunity Zones

Puerto Rico contains one of the highest concentrations of federally designated Opportunity Zones in the United States.

The program provides significant federal capital gains tax incentives for long-term investment while encouraging private capital to participate in redevelopment efforts across economically distressed communities.

Combined with Puerto Rico’s local tax incentive programs, Opportunity Zones created a unique investment environment unlike anywhere else in the United States.

HUBZone Program

The federal HUBZone program was designed to increase contracting opportunities for businesses operating in historically underserved communities.

For Puerto Rico, expanding participation in federal procurement represented an opportunity to retain more reconstruction dollars on the island while strengthening local businesses and creating employment.

Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC)

Affordable housing remains one of Puerto Rico’s greatest long-term challenges.

The LIHTC program continues to serve as one of the nation’s most successful public-private financing tools, attracting private capital to develop affordable housing while supporting resilient community development.

New Markets Tax Credits (NMTC)

The New Markets Tax Credit program encourages private investment in economically distressed communities through federal tax incentives.

With the vast majority of Puerto Rico qualifying under NMTC criteria, the island possesses significant opportunities to leverage this program for mixed-use developments, commercial revitalization, healthcare, manufacturing, education, and community facilities.

USDA Rural Development Programs

Many of Puerto Rico’s rural municipalities continue to benefit from USDA financing programs supporting housing, water systems, renewable energy, business development, and community infrastructure.

Although historically underutilized, these programs offer valuable financing opportunities for projects outside the island’s major metropolitan areas.

Beyond Recovery

One of the most important lessons emerging from the conference was that reconstruction funding should not simply restore damaged assets.

It should improve them.

The conversation emphasized resilient infrastructure, sustainable development, renewable energy, affordable housing, economic diversification, and stronger public-private partnerships as essential components of Puerto Rico’s future.

Rather than rebuilding yesterday’s economy, the island has an opportunity to create one that is more competitive, more resilient, and better prepared for future generations.

AG&T’s Perspective

For more than three decades, AG&T has worked at the intersection of real estate, hospitality, infrastructure, finance, and economic development throughout Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

Our experience has consistently demonstrated that successful development depends not only on great projects, but on assembling the right capital stack.

  1. Federal grants.
  2. Tax incentives.
  3. Private equity.
  4. Institutional capital.
  5. Development finance.
  6. Strategic partnerships.

When thoughtfully combined, these tools have the ability to unlock transformational projects that would otherwise remain impossible.

Puerto Rico’s reconstruction has demonstrated what can be achieved when government, private industry, nonprofit organizations, universities, and investors work together toward a shared vision.

The rebuilding effort continues today, but its greatest legacy may not be the billions of dollars invested.

It will be the opportunity to create a stronger, more resilient, and more prosperous Puerto Rico for generations to come.