Roosevelt Roads: Navy Taking Online Bids To Sell Old Base In Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- An online auction began Monday for more than 2,000 acres of land overlooking the Caribbean that was once part of the bustling Naval Station Roosevelt Roads.

The auction, which is expected to last at least three days, is the latest attempt to finally resolve the fate of a base that closed in 2004, shortly after the military stopped using the nearby island of Vieques as a bombing range.

The minimum bid was $10 million for one parcel of nearly 500 acres. The minimum is $30 million for another parcel of more than 1,500 acres. The two areas, which make up what was the residential area of a base, are zoned for residential and commercial development.

Puerto Rico's government has acquired more than 6,500 acres of former Navy property around the two parcels being sold and has a long-term development plan that includes a cruise ship port, hotels and a casino. The Navy attempted to sell the two residential parcels in an online auction in 2008 but canceled the effort because it did not receive qualified bids.

Roosevelt Roads was commissioned as a Navy base in 1943 and in later years was the military's regional headquarters. The U.S. decided it no longer needed the base after it halted test bombing of Vieques following years of protests. The island of Vieques has since become a popular tourist destination, but the towns on the Puerto Rican mainland near the former base were economically devastated by the closure.

SEE PICTURES OF THE NAVY BASE:

WATCH RELATED:

Comments

[colorado52]

12:48 PM on 02/16/2012

Does anyone know if this is near the old Ramie Air Force Base, or were they combined? I was born there in '52 when my Dad was in the Air Force. Was hoping to get back there and see the big bugs my Dad told me about - they had to keep nets over my crib! UGH! Unfortunately my Dad died a few years ago and so we can't visit together. Colorado Girl - semi Boriquena!

[JacksonHts]

12:18 AM on 02/17/2012

They were on opposite sides of the Island from each other. Ramey Air Force Base was near Aguadilla, on the West coast of Puerto Rico, and Roosevelt Roads Navy Base was on the East Coast, between Fajardo and Humacao. And yeah, people used mosquiteros or mosquito netting and some people still do. Ramey closed in the early 70's. Their High School athletic teams used to compete in the local leagues and suddenly they were gone.

[colorado52]

05:56 PM on 02/17/2012

Jackson Hts - Thanks for the info - I was born in Aguadilla so that explains the distance. Still plan to visit - I believe my "baby spirit" gave me ties there!

[Summer77]

12:49 PM on 02/15/2012

Someone with the money can turn that place into a gold mine. Too bad I don't have the 10 mill at hand right now! I can see the potentials though! Hey Trump I just found the perfect place for you and your clan Please include my finders fee! :)

[dems08]

07:55 AM on 02/17/2012

I sure trump would class the place up!

[Summer77]

11:12 AM on 02/17/2012

LOL or maybe not! :)

[white53duk]

03:04 AM on 02/15/2012

Spent some time there in the early '70s. Beautiful area. Two comments: When a Navy Base (or Marine, Army or Air Force facility) is in ANY area, there is always some grief with the locals. But once they leave, the area is hit hard financially. It's a "damned if ya do, damned if ya don't" situation. And secondly, Puerto Rico has some of the biggest cock roaches I ever saw. I was in Dress Whites once, returning to my ship. Accidentally stepped on one. Down I went. Need I saw my whites weren't anymore?

[JacksonHts]

12:23 AM on 02/17/2012

I dont remember the Navy Base at Isla Grande ever causing any issues or grief with the locals. Using places where people live and fish for a living as live air and artillery bombing ranges is going to cause you grief. By the way, have you ever spent any time in the Southern USA or NYC? Some pretty large roaches abound in both of those regions.

[n1k2r3]

01:23 AM on 02/15/2012

How 'bout Geraldo? He's originally from there and would probably develop the property into a magnificent world-class resort.

[jbrainard152]

02:30 AM on 02/15/2012

Only if there was a Capone safe there!!!

[summoningki]

11:33 PM on 02/14/2012

Only $10 million? Hey here's another great tax haven For Romney! Oh, wait a minute this is still considered in the U.S. so maybe not.

[JustAmerican58]

10:50 PM on 02/14/2012

Having first hand working experience with BRAC Navy Base closures in the Federal Environmental Compliance Act of 1990, the DOD has spent hundreds of billions on environmental remediation. It should be a DOD/US Navy goal that all existing and closure bases be ISO certified facilities or ISO certified properties ready for civilian economic development. After all the US Navy is second two no other Navy on earth and we should expect nothing less then ISO certification from the U.S. Navy.

[No7]

10:36 PM on 02/14/2012

....and the buyer will probably have to pay a couple hundred million to clean up all the haz mat stuff thats leaked into the ground over the years....

[Alex Xelasc]

10:31 PM on 02/14/2012

If it comes with a couple nukes, I'll buy it.

[tchspirit6]

09:14 PM on 02/14/2012

let the bidding begin.

[ddfscfman]

08:58 PM on 02/14/2012

Dang i wish i had $$ 10 mil just sitting in the bank

[metusmetu]

08:02 PM on 02/14/2012

Be more than glad to take it off their hands, but we need to talk on the $10 million minimum. Definately a dream place, but just about every hurricane hits there, 'tis why no one is scrambling to buy the place. Other wise this real estate would have been sold long ago, probably without any of us knowing about it!

[aristippe]

07:58 PM on 02/14/2012

Considered participating in this auction but I shouldn't spread the butter too thin. Shame though, would have been perfect to house my vast collection of Babylonian artifacts I recently acquired from Hameed, my mercurial Iraqi art dealer. Oh Well.

[soccerus]

07:08 PM on 02/14/2012

I saw two water spouts, side by side, in the harbor there in 1979 when we stopped there for liberty after 6 weeks of fleet training at Gitmo. It is a beautiful place down around the islands, I hope we didn't mess up the land the base was on too bad. There was serious poverty there when I was lucky enough to see some of the mainland, I bet Rosie Roads closing has really hurt the locals.

[missmymind2353]

06:47 PM on 02/14/2012

DOES THE MONEY GO TO THE TAX PAYERS WHO PAID FOT IT.

[Laura Dean]

07:47 PM on 02/14/2012

The money probably goes back into the military who protect YOU everyday

[tchspirit6]

09:15 PM on 02/14/2012

probably? probably? are you kidding?

[givemlharry]

06:52 AM on 02/15/2012

Protects us from what? All I see is huge amounts of money wasted that could be used to rebuild America. We spend about the same as the rest of the world combined on the military. This paranoia has to stop.

[Nuyorican21]

08:15 PM on 02/14/2012

Nobody paid for it other than the military who fought during the Spanish-American War.

[bdgrizcp]

06:26 PM on 02/14/2012

I say hotel, motel, Holiday Inn...If you build it they will come. What is now the Casa Marina in Key West was, not so long ago, a derelict resort that had, during the early 60's, been commandered by the Navy and used as a base during the Cuban Missle Crisis. There are pictures of long-range guns on the beach. In the 70's, a Key West businessman whose name I cannot remember, who had, as a child, been a bell-boy at the Casa Marina during its early days, bought around 20 acres of Key West, including 1100 lineal feet of beach, for $1,000. The Cayo Hueso Ltd. Partnership then refurbished the existing hotel buildings and added an addition for approx $7.8 million. The Hotel opened as a Marriott Resort in 1978, I believe. In 1984 they sold it to another ownership group for $32 million, after having operated the hotel profitably for six years. Oceanfront property is always more valuable...this is a steal.