Background
Naval Station Roosevelt Roads was named for then Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt, who conceived the idea in 1919 on a surveying trip. It would eventually become one of the largest naval facilities in the world, encompassing more than 100 miles of paved interior roads. The base was first commissioned as a U.S. Naval Operations Base in 1943. In 1957, it Roosevelt Roads was re-designated as a Naval Station. In March 2004, The U.S. Department of the Navy formally ceased military operations and closed the now former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, located on the eastern coast of the island Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The 8,650 acre Naval Station Roosevelt Roads had been a fully integrated and operationally autonomous naval station complete with large scale airfield and deep water port facilities that were necessary to execute the Navy’s mission in the region. The primary runway at the airport is over 11,000 feet long and can accommodate large commercial passenger and/or air cargo aircraft. Through the BRAC disposal process, it is planned that the Navy will dispose of the entirety of the property with certain defined portions going to various agencies of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, transfer to other departments of the U.S. Federal Government, and the balance sold via a public sale process. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads is approximately thirty-three (33) miles southeast of Puerto Rico’s capital city of San Juan. With a remarkable expanse of coastal oceanfront property, Naval Station Roosevelt Roads is likely one of the largest coastal properties under single ownership in Puerto Rico. In dimensions, the Naval Station measures nearly five miles across (northeast to southwest) and nearly four miles wide (northwest to southeast). The Station’s unique and very large bay, called “Ensenada Honda” is a large and naturally protected harbor measuring roughly 1.25 miles wide by 2.15 miles long. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads as a whole has a broad ranged topography ranging from sea level to almost 300’ above sea level. The Station’s dominant topographic feature is a semi-circle of hills that overlook the large Ensenada Honda bay from the southern peninsula to the northern peninsula. The airport is visually screened and protected from wind and weather by a valley created by the hills. While the overall site is large at over 8,600 acres, new development and redevelopment opportunities are limited to a much smaller area. This is due to the presence of significant mangrove forests and wetland areas. The net area estimated available of reuse is approximately 3,900 acres.
For additional information visit the Navy Base Realignment and Closer (BRAC) Program Management website