House reviews UPR idle properties for new revenue sources
By THE STAR STAFF
The Treasury Committee in the island House of Representatives has launched a broad review of unused properties owned by the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in an effort to identify assets that could be sold to generate new funds for the financially strained public university system.
Committee chair Rep. Eddie Charbonier Chinea said the evaluation will cover structures, housing units, and vacant land across all UPR campuses. The university’s Office of Real Estate and Investment manages a large property portfolio, he noted, and “many of those assets are in disuse and could be placed on the market through an expedited process that aligns with current real‑estate conditions.”
Charbonier said the committee will request an updated registry of all UPR properties, along with the protocols and regulations governing their sale and the mechanisms through which revenue is transferred to the university’s fund. He emphasized that the registry must be modernized to reflect the full scope of holdings, including properties acquired under a long‑standing provision of Puerto Rico’s Civil Code.
Since 1930, the law has required the government to transfer to UPR any property inherited by the state when a person dies without heirs or a will.
“There must be many properties and parcels that fall under this category,” Charbonier said, adding that the committee intends to examine how these transfers have been handled and whether the university is fully accounting for them.
The review will also look at the purchase‑and‑sale process itself, which Charbonier described as slow and burdensome. Available data suggests transactions can take up to 10 months to complete, a timeline he argues discourages potential buyers and limits UPR’s ability to monetize its assets efficiently.
Under Article 914 of the Civil Code, the governor is authorized to execute deeds transferring inherited movable and immovable property to UPR’s Permanent Fund, except for farmland, which must be transferred to the Puerto Rico Land Authority. Charbonier said understanding how this mandate has been implemented over the decades is essential to determining the true value of UPR’s real‑estate portfolio.
The committee’s findings are expected to guide future legislative or administrative actions aimed at strengthening UPR’s finances, improving campus infrastructure, and expanding services at Puerto Rico’s flagship public university system.
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