Renaissance Square

Renaissance Square is the first mixed-income affordable housing project in Puerto Rico. It consists of 140 new apartments in a mix of one-, two-, or three- bedroom units in a four-story, mixed-use building; three-story walk-ups; and three-story townhouses. It includes an office area that fosters a management space, a community room, and fitness room. There is also a potential commercial space and a stand-alone maintenance building.

The project will be the first in compliance with the Caño Martin Peña Master Plan. As such, it had to create new public streets and integrate the development into the existing neighborhood fabric; it did not have space for visitors or commercial parking. Parallel parking was added throughout the new public streets to meet this requirement; there was not enough water pressure in the area to supply the project. Potable water cisterns were added to meet the required pressure; the site required environmental remediation.

An innovative system called Cupolex was used to ventilate below the slab to vent risers that lead to the roof. To reduce energy consumption by the buildings’ high-efficiency cooling systems, the project uses low-e glass and insulated windows instead of the typical economical window used for affordable housing. Rooftops sport photovoltaic solar panels to offset traditional electricity costs and minimize the community’s environmental footprint.