VRM Companies Unveils 'A Orillas del Río' Sculpture, Celebrating Transformation of Ciudad Jardín Gurabo

VRM Companies will celebrate this Thursday, June 18 at 5:30pm, together with the residents of Ciudad Jardín Gurabo, the unveiling of "A Orillas del Río", a sculpture by Puerto Rican artist Luis Torruella that the company gifts to the community. The event will take place at the Club House area of The River Village, in Ciudad Jardín Gurabo, and will bring together families, neighbors, and guests around art and the transformation of a community that a few years ago was in a state of abandonment.

More than 300 residents who have already confirmed their attendance are expected, as well as the honorable Vilmarie Peña, mayor of Gurabo, sculptor Luis Torruella, and several members of the VRM team, in a community sharing and celebration of the progress achieved by working together as a community.

For nearly fifteen years, Ciudad Jardín Gurabo remained in a state of deterioration and abandonment. More than 500 families already residing in the community were trapped in an environment of neglected common areas, ruined facilities, and declining property values. The Golf Club House — whose ownership was in the hands of third parties and not the residents themselves — lay vandalized and unused, alongside an abandoned golf course, unused tennis courts, and a deteriorated entrance booth.

In 2021, VRM Companies made a commitment that went far beyond building and selling new homes. The company began a comprehensive transformation — executed in the midst of a pandemic and with unprecedented construction cost inflation — aimed at restoring dignity and value to the entire community. One of the most significant achievements was the rescue of the Golf Club House, now called The River Village. VRM managed to transfer its ownership, which was in the hands of third parties, to the Master Association of Owners, returning control of the facility to the residents and turning what was an abandoned and unused structure into a space where multiple businesses and operators operate, serving the needs of residents and the community at large. At the same time, the abandoned courts gave way to a new Racket Club with tennis, pickleball, and beach tennis, the entrance booth was expanded and modernized, and the common areas were completely rehabilitated.

The impact reached equally the new families to whom VRM sold their homes and the families who already lived in Ciudad Jardín before. Today, what for years was synonymous with abandonment is a community with added value, services, and life, without the transformation representing additional burdens for its residents. When VRM Companies arrived in 2021, Ciudad Jardín Gurabo had about 519 families. Today, more than 1,000 families enjoy a first-class community, thanks to the delivery of quality resort-style homes in the River Terrace, River View, and River Estates complexes. Even in the face of a historic rise in construction costs, these complexes represent the best affordable housing option among market projects for the middle class throughout Puerto Rico, with various products with average prices ranging around $300,000 and $400,000.

"At VRM Companies, we believe that good development is one that not only benefits those who buy a home, but elevates a place for the benefit of an extended community. Today, Gurabo has a first-class destination that, while enhancing community life, attracts commercial activity, strengthens the tax base, and projects an image of progress for the entire region. We back this transformation with investment, commitment, and above all, our word; and the result is now visible to all," said Rafael E. Rojo, President and Chief Executive Officer of VRM Companies.

The sculpture "A Orillas del Río" crowns this story. Through free and flowing lines that intertwine to form the letter "R", Torruella's work evokes the river that embraces the community and summarizes the spirit of its transformation: the Rescue of an abandoned project, the Resilience of having achieved it in adverse times, and the Rebirth of a community that today celebrates life in harmony with nature.