Project Esencia: A 2,000-acre luxury enclave proposed by British billionaires and Wall Street investors — threatening Puerto Rico's most biodiverse coastal ecosystem, displacing communities, and taking your beaches forever.
Five foreign corporations — none of them Puerto Rican — stand to profit from one of the largest coastal land grabs in Puerto Rico's history. They are using Act 60 tax exemptions to minimize their contribution to the island while maximizing their returns.
British billionaires David and Simon Reuben — owners of Newcastle United FC, London Oxford Airport, and luxury properties across Mayfair and Manhattan. Now targeting Puerto Rico's southwest coast for a "transformative investment."
Led by CEO Will Bennett and Roberto Ruiz-Vargas, Three Rules Capital specializes in ultra-premium hospitality projects across Mexico, Dominican Republic, Hawaii, and Portugal. JPMorgan Chase is financing the deal.
Expected to open in 2028, managing a luxury resort plus ~283 branded residences. Protesters occupied Mandarin Oriental's Columbus Circle New York lobby in April 2025, demanding the company withdraw from the project.
One of the confirmed luxury operators for Esencia's five planned hotels, contributing to what critics describe as an exclusive gated city for foreign ultra-wealthy residents — cut off from local Puerto Rican communities.
Identified by investors as a potential third hotel operator, Aman's CEO Vlad Doronin has faced legal disputes in the UK over control of the hotel chain. Aman specializes in developing near UNESCO heritage and protected areas.
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company — under both Governor Vázquez and Governor Pierluisi — approved $498M in tax credits. OGPe issued an Environmental Compliance Determination in late 2025, during the holiday period, shortening the public response window.
Project investors made documented campaign donations to both PNP and PPD politicians — effectively "softening" key figures from both parties who subsequently supported or muted their opposition to the project. Source: Centro de Periodismo Investigativo.
Publicly stated that if Esencia complies with all regulations, "it should be built." Confirmed the PPD will not institutionally oppose the project. Declined to support the people's March 28 march against Esencia.
Conditionally supports the project. Sat alongside the project's spokesperson during public hearings while citizens booed and shouted: "Nobody wants you here!" Harshly criticized by residents and environmental organizations.
PPD-affiliated analyst serving as the project's public voice. His PR team includes press officers linked to PPD legislators who were observed operating from the technical control room during the public hearings on Esencia.
Under his administration, Esencia's tax exemption decree was amended in 2024. The law firm where he was a partner appears as a lobbyist for a broker connected to the project. A frequent PNP donor was involved in the original purchase of the project's land.
Under her administration, the original tax exemption decree was granted to Cabo Rojo Land Acquisition LLC in 2020, along with a 90% exemption on notarial fees and stamp duties signed in 2022.
According to the CPI, project proponents worked to "soften" PPD figures. Press officers for PPD legislators actively worked during Esencia's public hearings in support of the project.
One of only three voices that testified in favor of Esencia during the public hearings — alongside the Cabo Rojo mayor and a private developer. Praised the project's potential economic benefits for the southwest region.
A frequent PNP donor who has primarily backed Pedro Pierluisi and San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero. Has promoted similar projects for years and was involved in the original purchase of the Esencia land parcels.
Present at the Esencia public hearings. His attendance was documented by the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo as part of the political environment surrounding the project and its proponents.
The developers describe this as a "light touch" on the land. The maps tell a different story. Esencia would consume a land area larger than entire historic cities and islands that people know and love.
Esencia's proposed construction footprint covers 1,549 cuerdas (~1,504 acres) — the area where structures, golf courses, roads, and infrastructure would be built. Old San Juan covers just 242 cuerdas. In other words, the built zone alone is more than six times the historic capital.
The proposed site sits adjacent to some of the Caribbean's most irreplaceable ecosystems. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Puerto Rico's own DRNA publicly opposed the project at hearings, citing irreversible adverse impacts on one of Puerto Rico's most vulnerable coastal zones.
Cabo Rojo hosts the most important migratory bird stopover in the entire Eastern Caribbean, with 145 bird species, 245 plant species, and habitat for 78 threatened or endangered species — including Caribbean manatees, the Puerto Rican Nightjar (Guabairo), the Yellow-shouldered Blackbird (Mariquita), and the Piping Plover.
The project would require 1.25 million gallons of potable water per day — 28% of Cabo Rojo's entire current daily water supply for 49,000 residents. The region already suffers chronic water shortages.
Source: Environmental Impact Statement filed with OGPe / Puerto Rico Aqueducts and Sewer Authority (AAA)
The site includes land of high environmental value near reserves with dunes, mangroves, wetlands, and coral reefs — the island's natural defense system against storm surges, flooding, and erosion. Mangrove reforestation has very low success rates; once lost, these ecosystems are effectively gone forever.
The project sits within the Southwest Special Planning Area, home to the endangered Puerto Rican Nightjar (Guabairo), the Mariquita (Yellow-shouldered Blackbird), the Piping Plover, and the Caribbean manatee. Adjacent Rincón Lagoon is a nursery for over 20 commercially valuable fish species.
Cabo Rojo already faces chronic water shortages. Comparable golf-course developments worldwide have cut off natural water flow to wetlands, mangroves, and aquifers. Existing residents sometimes wait 7–22 days between water deliveries, while luxury developments use desalination plants and private wells.
The former director of the U.S. EPA's Caribbean Environmental Protection Division has highlighted that the region's geology cannot withstand large-scale construction of this magnitude — increasing the risk of landslides, erosion, and coastal destabilization, especially in the context of intensifying hurricanes.
Cabo Rojo has the highest documented density of archaeological deposits on the entire island. Esencia's plan to "support archaeological digs and build a museum within its borders" means privately controlling Puerto Rico's ancestral Taíno heritage — artifacts that belong to the Puerto Rican people, not to foreign investors.
Los Pozos beach — a crystal-clear, pristine coastal gem known to hikers and locals — sits directly within the project footprint. Access has already been restricted since construction began. Three miles of coastline that have been publicly accessible for generations will become the exclusive preserve of guests paying $2M–$20M for a home.
The Puerto Rico Tourism Company granted nearly half a billion dollars in tax credits to Cabo Rojo Land Acquisition LLC — the corporate shell through which Reuben Brothers and Three Rules Capital are executing this deal. This is public money going to British billionaires and Wall Street investors whose combined net worth exceeds $18 billion.
Thousands have taken to the streets. Scientists, fishermen, archaeologists, academics, artists, and entire communities have united. The Environmental Impact Statement was rejected by the people — the voices below make that clear.
"What the government is promoting with Esencia is not development — it is a rushed and questionable process for a project that puts the quality of life of our communities and our natural resources at risk."
"As is now customary for this government, operating in the shadows, the Environmental Impact Statement was issued on Christmas Eve — an attack on Cabo Rojo's communities and protected ecosystems. No public hearing, no science or experts enter La Fortaleza. The only thing that gets in is money and the voice of donors."
"Complying with the law does not always mean a project is fair, sustainable, or beneficial for the country — especially when the regulatory apparatus fails to adequately protect the public interest."
"As candidates to lead the municipality of Cabo Rojo and residents committed to the wellbeing of our community, we want to express our deep concern about the lack of clarity and transparency from the mayor regarding the Esencia mega project."
"The comments from the DRNA's technical and scientific staff confirm what we said from the beginning. Project Esencia, as proposed, does not comply with Puerto Rico's environmental public policy. It threatens wetlands, mangroves, and aquifers."
"This is a resounding success. We see the people's rejection of the disastrous Esencia project. It would be devastating. We have given the government options: use the nearly $500 million they plan to give developers to buy the land instead and turn it into a community forest for the people."
"The proposed mitigation measures are not acceptable. Continuous areas without impact or fragmentation must be delineated."
"Environmental studies show that the area contains flora and fauna species with special designation — vulnerable or endangered. There are many causes for alarm with Project Esencia. We are especially concerned about the irreparable damage to the environment."
"Esencia is another invasive project specifically meant to displace Puerto Ricans. If Project Esencia continues, we could soon see a Puerto Rico without Puerto Ricans."
"We were born at this precise and precious moment to make a difference, to live differently and change our reality. Nature keeps receiving attacks that threaten its existence and, consequently, ours. What do we do? Organize, mobilize, and fight! This struggle is for life!"
"I can't go all day without water. I have to cook, I have to bathe. This is abuse."
"The opposition is grounded in concerns from academic, scientific, community, and religious sectors about the environmental, social, and ethical impact of Project Esencia — particularly regarding conservation of natural resources, equitable access to the common good, and long-term sustainability."
"The chosen date reduces the number of working days available for opponents to review and prepare arguments, given government office closures during holidays."
Organizations Opposing Project Esencia