Design and Construction – In this Project we participate from the creation of the Concept to its construction. The owner has been using rustic metal facilities for the sale of cars for years and when he managed to grow enough to achieve his dream of building permanent facilities to show his vehicles, he contracted us to elaborate the architectural design.
We worked with the creation of a concept that included the owner's requests to comply with the technical aspects of managing the entrance and storage of vehicles in the showroom area, as well as office areas in the first and second levels. An architectural concept was incorporated into the technical needs to achieve a design where the building became the main protagonist to be used as a visual icon not only to attract customers but to cover the needs of the owner.
The construction process included application for use and construction permits, site preparation, construction of infrastructure for water and electricity, construction of footings and building in concrete, installation of equipment and materials inside the structure, management and inspection of the project, among others.
Construction - Luxurious residence located in Ciudad Jardin, Gurabo. This project includes the construction of this grand terrace and swimming pool designed by Architect Nestor Paoli. The Architect used architectural elements such as pergolas, sculptures, textures, among others that make this project unique.
In this project we experiment with the use of new techniques in the preparation of molds for concrete work. These techniques helped to make the process cleaner than others and as a result the concrete components designed by the Architect were created within the expectations of the concept, which needed the structures to give the sensation of sculptures.
Project Assessment – This luxury residential and commercial project was designed by the architectural firm Sierra, Cardona & Ferrer, was built in 2011 has 160 residential apartments distributed in two towers of 26 floors over a connecting building of 9 levels that include commercial area, lobby, parking and storage area for Owners, mini theater, security office, administration office, two meeting rooms, two swimming pools, electric generator to supply energy to common and private areas, among others.
Our company was hired for a temporary period to perform an evaluation of the project in the aspects of maintenance services and administrative procedures. Our first finding when we began the evaluation was that the Project was still in situations with the Developer since he still owned several apartments that had not been sold as well as situations of construction defects.
Our work included organizing and helping to stabilize the relationship between the developer and the Board of Directors and was focused on making an inventory of the claims of the Owners on the issues that they had in the apartment referring to leaks, communal situations, among others and scheduled to make the necessary repairs. The repair and maintenance work helped the Project to move towards normality and that Property Owners could enjoy their properties.
We work in addition to organize, stabilize and design the administrative procedures necessary for the Administration Office to run properly. Protocols and forms were designed to present claims, requests for debt certifications, requests for services, submit suggestions and comments, request for proposals, changes of service contractors and others. We also worked on creating emails contact list of the Owners to eliminate the use of paper and send newsletters electronically.
Our services were extended to assist the Board of Directors in hurricane season and then for the recovery work after Hurricane María. In this stage we work with the coordination of the damage inventory for the insurance claim, maintain the flow of diesel to supply the electric generator, cleaning and collecting debris, coordinate repairs to the electrical generator, coordinate priority repairs in the communal areas among others.
Construction - This construction project included everything from the preparation of the site and the construction of the residence to the delivery of the key. The great challenge of this project was its location on the beautiful island of Culebra.
For this Project, the coordination work of hauling materials and equipment from the Big Island to Culebra was an integral part of its success. Another important part was to coordinate the hiring of staff willing to live on the island during the months of completion of the construction as well as the execution of a project management during the construction that had the goal of keeping the staff active and working without affecting the schedule of work, given the isolated location of the site.
The difficulties that this location brings brought another additional challenge in terms of maintaining the Budget. In this location there were no temporary connections of water or electricity, so the project included resolving these supplies. The connections that we were able to create with the suppliers of materials and personnel of the maritime transport agencies that controlled the Ferry to Culebra, was an integral part of not exceeding the budget.
Consulting – This residential project was built in the 70s has 344 residential apartments distributed in one tower of 23 floors and 5 walk-up buildings of 4 floors. The challenge in this project is that it has two different types of buildings, the 23-level tower entails a greater coordination work given that it includes technical equipment that needs intensive maintenance services such as three elevators, cistern and water pumps, electric generator, among others. In the case of walk-up buildings, these in comparison to the tower do not have any mechanical equipment.
These extreme differences have caused over the years that residents of the two areas have differences of opinion and controversy. The biggest controversy that existed was that the residents of the walk-up buildings claimed that they were paying the maintenance costs of the Tower Building equipment.
When the Board of Directors approved a Special Fee for painting works, sealing of roofs, remodeling of elevators, replacement of communal windows in the Tower building, among other improvement projects, a group of residents of the walk-up buildings activated a complaint in the Department of Consumer Affairs (DACO) to challenge the agreements approved in the Assembly stating that the provisions of the Master Deed were not being complied with.
We carried out the analysis of the Master Deed to evaluate if in effect it included two types of percent of participation and if the Condominium was not calculating correctly the maintenance fees or the special fees nor other applicable fees. During our investigation it was found that the Master Deed contained two tables of calculations for percentage of participation one for spending on areas categorized as general common and another for areas categorized as limited common.
Another fact we found was that the Master Deed did not clearly indicate which was the specific number that would be used for each category. Our work was to establish clearly what were the two percent of participation to be used. To achieve this, it was necessary to study the Construction Plans, the annexes of the Master Deed and other documents to establish for each apartment the percentage of participation to be used for the fees calculations.
In conclusion, we present the Legal Adviser who was representing the Condominium in the case in DACO, the conclusions of the findings, including specific tables of participation percentages per apartment and per category. The report included classifying in the Construction Plans using colors the areas of the Condominium between general common areas, limited common areas and private areas. Our findings and conclusions were certified by the CPA hired as an expert witness.
Construction – This Project is the construction of the Diagnostic and Treatment Center (CDT) in Ponce of about 15,000 square feet. In this Project we work from the proposal presentation in the auction to contract award, material and equipment submittals preparation, project management, material and equipment purchase orders, project supervision, project inspection, installation management of equipment and medical machinery, OSHA certifications, payment and work progress certifications, adjustments of constructions plan, among others.
This project, due to its size and the large number of technical aspects that it included, allowed us to demonstrate our ability to handle complicated projects, as well as add more experience to our knowledge to handle projects that have situations and structural challenges. In these projects a large number of documents is handled as works schedules, deadlines that have to be met, procedures to organize and manage a large number of personnel working in different areas at the same time, purchase of materials, maintain the necessary inventory, manage budgets, changes orders, manage security aspects, handle federal and state regulations, payments for services rendered, among others.
Project Assessment – This residential project was built in the 50s, for that time it was considered the largest complex in Puerto Rico since it has 441 apartments. This residential complex has been recognized as an important architectural contribution and has been published in several architecture and landscaping magazines. The Cultural Landscape Foundation published an article describing this Project as follows:
“Situated inland from San Juan and developed between 1952 and 1958, Puerto Rico’s first Post War planned, multi-family residential community was part of an urban renewal project intended to provide housing for a quickly rising population. The Modernist, crescent-shaped apartment buildings and their surrounds were completed in two phases: first, the northern section was designed by architect Edward Larabee Barnes in conjunction with a local firm, Reed, Basora and Menendez. Hideo Sasaki contributed the landscape design. The southern portion was designed by the architectural firm of Torres, Beauchamp and Marvel with local landscape architect Hunter Randolph.
Named for the knoll on which it was sited, the housing replaced a blighted neighborhood. Seamlessly incorporating communal and private spaces through a landscape design which experimented with tropical flora, the integrative plan provided a model for Modernist landscape design in the Caribbean. Creating a park in the midst of a crowded city, the design team provided recreational facilities (including playgrounds and swimming pools) alongside open lawn and shaded parkland connected by curvilinear pedestrian paths…”
This housing complex is composed of two types of buildings one multi-level nine levels and the other is a series of small structures composed of townhouses with the roof in dome. All buildings are interconnected by green areas throughout the complex which occupy 13 acres of land. In addition, it has three small building used as communal Laundry, boiler and transformers rooms, a recreation and office building, an half size olympic pool among others.
When we begin the project of evaluation of existing condition of facilities, consultation and design of operational and maintenance processes, the complex was in a transition between boards of directors which established our first challenge given that there was an atmosphere of discomfort among neighbors. Our first action was to work with neighborhood groups to achieve the reconciliation of opinions and ensure that everyone's focus was on the welfare of the Complex.
Achieved the objectives of obtaining the cooperation of the neighbors to contribute positively to the affairs of the Complex, we began with the work of carrying out the inventory of the visible existing condition of the facilities. In this project it was found that the green areas lacked adequate maintenance to control the excessive growth of the vegetation. As we recognize that an integral part of the beauty of this Project is the design of the "Forest within the City", we immediately coordinated the design of the work plan to carry out the pruning of trees with overgrowth and cleanup of dead and diseased vegetation.
As this Project has more than fifty years of construction, it has equipment and machinery from that same period. As an example, the infrastructure was designed to incorporate boilers to heat water, located in the basement of the multilevel building. It did not include the design or installation of individual water heaters per apartment. Since most of the equipment and machinery had passed their useful life, they had many problems because they were continuously failing. The recommendation was made to the Board of Directors to hire experts to inspect the machinery so that they could present recommendations for preventive repairs and replacement of outdated equipment with new ones.
On the other hand, it was found that there were no active recurrent preventive maintenance contracts. In order to resolve this matter, the coordination of requests for proposals for the contracting of recurrent maintenance services was carried out. This action helped control and significantly reduce the occurrence of equipment breakdowns.
This work included helping the Board of Directors prepare short and long-term plans to improve the communal areas as well as presenting the necessary adjustments in the annual budget to include recurring maintenance items to maintain the improvements made to the areas in the long term.
Another challenge in this project was to handle the evaluation of the requests and finances processes of its population of 441 owners. We are proud of our work to establish the necessary protocols and processes to improve the functioning of finances, so that the Board of Directors could continue and keep delinquency of the accounts of the Owners at a minimum level.
Project Assessment – This housing project was built in the 1999s has 192 apartments distributed in 12 walk-up buildings of four levels. It has one swimming pool and two tennis court and one basketball court. Located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.
When we started consulting services in January 2020 and carried out the study of the visible existing condition of the buildings, we found a state of extreme deterioration of maintenance and cleaning. This deterioration affected to a large extent the residents' quality of life. During the progress of our consulting and evaluation work, we began as one of the priorities the design of the short and long-term work schedule necessary to improve the aesthetic appearance of the areas as well as the recreational areas as swimming pool. This process included the evaluation of the company that provides the maintenance and cleaning services, to establish the necessary corrections that the company must establish to improve the services or eventually, if the services do not improve, recommend to the Board of Directors what alternatives they can implement to work with the situation.
Another challenge we found in this Project was that several Special Repair Projects were being carried out regarding the damage caused by Hurricane Maria. These Projects include Painting work on all buildings, roof sealing, replacement of exterior doors, gazebo remodeling, replacement and installation of asphalt, roof repair of garbage containers, replacement of roof extractors, replacement of fences and repairs of mailboxes. However, as soon as our services began, we were helping the Board of Directors to coordinate the requests of the Owners as well as participating in the Project meetings, coordinating visits by the construction inspector to the areas and appointments with the Owners, among other efforts.
Thanks to our vast experience in Construction Projects and that our services are provided through a combined work team between remote and on-site personnel, the ordinary maintenance jobs continue to run without significantly affecting the regular rhythm.
Our company concluded the consulting services, leaving the Board of Directors with the necessary tools to continue their ordinary maintenance work processes with the improvements presented and designed.
Project Assessment – This housing project was built in the 2000s has 230 apartments distributed in 22 walk-up buildings of 3 & four levels, which occupy 23 acres of land. It has three swimming pools, a clubhouse, a gym building and tennis court and basketball court. It is located near the Puerto del Rey Marina, the former Roosevelt Road naval base and the Los Machos Beach. This privileged location provides this project with the unique advantage of promoting the sale and purchase by people who are boats lovers and when the new development begins in the areas of the old naval base will be the center of attraction to invest in the purchase and rental of the apartments.
When we started consulting services in 2012 and carried out the study of the visible existing condition of the buildings, we found a state of extreme deterioration of maintenance and cleaning. This deterioration affected to a large extent that the owners could sell or rent the apartments. During the progress of our consulting services, we began as one of the priorities to coordinate the basic cleaning and painting works necessary to improve the aesthetic appearance of the buildings as well as the recreational areas as swimming pools. When the basic coordination was achieved the people, who live it return to live under the conditions as if it were a New Project.
Another challenge we found in this Project was that most of the owners use it as a second home and our initial evaluation showed that there were many abandoned properties. However, with the work of coordinating the necessary services to correct the abandonment in which we found the project we achieved the necessary improvement so that the owners returned to use their apartments during their vacations as well as managed to rent their properties.
The highest priority in this Project was the extreme delinquency in the payment of the Maintenance Fees by the Owners in which the finances of the Homeowner Association were found. Our services included the evaluation of the finances of the association to present recommendations and execute the necessary collection procedures to reduce delinquencies as much as possible.
Our services included evaluating the accounting system, auditing the owners' accounts, sending account statements to activate the collection processes, sending collection notices to execute deactivation of services that connect through the communal infrastructure, preparing Debt Certifications to refer them to the Legal Advisor to activate money collection lawsuits, among other necessary procedures. When our company began services, delinquency of two months or more was at 35% and with the services carried out by our company it was reduced to less than 10%.
Our company concluded the consulting services, leaving active the processes and protocols necessary for the Board of Directors to handle and manage the requests of the Owners, short and long-term work schedules to keep the general common areas in good condition, detailed budget, among others that we designed and were activated during the progress of our services.