Plaza Rio Hondo

Shopping Center Rebuild

Reconstructing After a Hurricane

Sachse Construction managed the tenant coordination and reconstruction services for Plaza Rio Hondo in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The one-story, 555,000 gross square foot shopping center suffered damage following a hurricane to its façade, roof, and interior caused by wind and rain. The shopping center contains a variety of tenants, both large and small, including but not limited to Best Buy, TJMaxx, PetSmart, Marshalls, Clark, Skechers, Sally Beauty, Taco Bell, Burger King, and KFC.

The scope of work for Plaza Rio Hondo included reconstruction and remediation for the exterior and interior of the shopping center and tenant spaces, installation of a new roof, and repairs to the rooftop mechanical units and utilities. An added challenge for the reconstruction of the plaza was that 75% of the tenant spaces were occupied and operated daily.

There were a few key challenges in remediating and reconstructing Plaza Rio Hondo: weather, roofing, and the location of the roof drains.

Replacing the roof was critical to completing the reconstruction of the plaza, but unexpected rainstorms in the Caribbean can make adhering to a schedule difficult. The weather led to a “do what you can when you can” approach to stay on schedule. To ensure newly constructed sections were not damaged, the team kept the roof protection on-site so they could use it in the event of a surprise storm. Additionally, night seals were used every evening to protect the newly constructed areas overnight.

Plaza Rio Hondo is a shopping center that has experienced several additions to the original structure. As a result, former exterior walls are now interior walls, often in tenant spaces. Since the team had to coordinate the tenant spaces individually, the walls created a challenge for ensuring all roof drains are repaired and working correctly. The drains, which are located on the current exterior and former exterior walls, ensure water is drained correctly off the roof. Sachse Construction used select exploratory demolition before any tenant space remediation and reconstruction to understand if drains needed to be repaired or were functioning properly. This approach allowed for minimal impact on the tenant spaces as well as consolidating the time a store could be down for repairs. Sachse Construction worked daily to ensure consistent communication with the landlord as well as tenant space managers to ensure the plaza’s reconstruction work remained as minimally impactful as possible.