Chicago City Wire

Richard Gonzalez, a veteran real estate developer and former Chicago police sergeant, is nearing the launch of a major affordable housing project in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

The development, Apolonia Apartments, will feature 138 residential units and is expected to close in the summer of 2025—marking a key milestone in Puerto Rico’s ongoing post-Hurricane Maria housing recovery.

Gonzalez, 62, is president of the Chicago-based Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation (MHDC).

Over the past three decades, he has developed more than 2,500 affordable housing units nationwide.

“It all stemmed from Hurricane Maria in 2017 when the island was hit with one of the most devastating hurricanes in recent memory,” Gonzalez told Chicago City Wire. “Before the hurricane, there was already a big need for housing on the island, but after the hurricane, so many existing homes were devastated. The government of Puerto Rico, and the federal government all came into agreement that there was a huge need to bring housing back to the island and provide affordable housing.” 

Hurricane Maria caused an estimated $94.4 billion in damages in Puerto Rico, making it the costliest natural disaster in the island’s history. 

The storm impacted all 3.4 million residents, damaging 80 percent and destroying 25 percent of homes, along with critical infrastructure and access to power and clean water. Nearly 2,975 people died, and about 130,000 residents left the island within a year.

Years later, many Puerto Ricans continue to struggle with long-term recovery. 

Gonzalez has a deep connection to the island. 

Born in Chicago and raised in Puerto Rico from second through 12th grade, he later returned to the mainland to attend DePaul University and served 27 years with the Chicago Police Department, retiring as a sergeant in 2019. 

At the start of his CPD career, he also began working with MHDC, where he has now spent 32 years advancing affordable housing initiatives.

“I've been doing development for a good part of my life,” Gonzalez said. “At one point, I was doing development and serving the city of Chicago as a police sergeant. There’s a common ground there—whether it’s protecting people from harm as a police officer, or providing for them in need through housing. That’s where the synergy is.” 

Following the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Apolonia Apartments was one of 17 projects selected by the Puerto Rico Housing Finance Authority (PRHFA) under its 2020 Qualified Allocation Plan, using CDBG-DR (Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery) funds allocated by HUD to rebuild and expand the island’s housing stock.

Apolonia Apartments is next in line to secure CDBG-DR funding.

“We’re right on the verge of determining a closing date,” Gonzalez said. “So we're hoping that we will be able to go sometime in the beginning of July or late June of this year. Everything is looking to be where it's at. But of course, there's always the fear and the risk that funds may not be there at the time, for whatever the reason may be, even though these funds were already approved.” 

The Apolonia Apartments will feature two and three-bedroom units ranging from 800 to 1,300 square feet. 

Architectural design is by Alvarez-Díaz & Villalón, with construction led by F&R Construction Group, Inc., Puerto Rico’s largest general contractor. Both firms are led by University of Notre Dame alumni Ricardo Alvarez-Díaz and Antonio Fullana.

The Apolonia Apartments is one of two projects MHDC was selected to develop on the island through CDBG-DR funds. 

“It's been a tedious process,” Gonzalez said. “It's something that takes a little longer than we're used to. Nevertheless, we were able to close on our first project sometime at the end of 2024, currently under construction.”

The project follows a successful 238-unit development in Caguas, which closed in 2024 and is now under construction.

“Everything is going perfect on that project, everything's on time, we've got a great developer, great architect, good development team,” Gonzalez said. 

Despite the challenges publicly funded projects face due to lengthy bureaucratic timelines and political transitions, Gonzalez remains committed.

“Puerto Rico is a different culture,” Gonzalez said. “We talk about island time. This is island time—everything's a little more relaxed. I think people here live a little longer because of that. There is sometimes a sense of not having that urgency here on the island, but again, that's a cultural thing.” 

Gonzalez emphasized the urgent need for such housing in Bayamón. 

“Bayamón is a great city,” Gonzalez said. “It rivals San Juan in every way. It's a metropolitan city that is known for pork rinds. When you think about Bayamón, we talk about the chicharrón from Bayamón because that's something that, even as a kid, Bayamón was very well known for. It's got great shopping, great restaurants. It has a great mayor. People are pretty happy in the town of Bayamón, but as in every city and every municipality on the island, there's a need for affordable housing.” 

Gonzalez emphasized that MHDC’s developments are not handouts, but structured opportunities.

“Affordable housing is what we do,” Gonzalez said. “It’s the tax credit plan, and it’s a federal program that's overseen by the IRS. There are income limits that you can charge your residents, and there’s a certain qualification that residents must meet—a certain income.” 

Gonzalez was quick to dispel common misconceptions about affordable housing, emphasizing that the program is designed to support working individuals and families striving for stability.

“It's not like free housing for people who just don't work or don't want to try to progress,” he said. “It's really for those folks within the 30 to 60 percent AMI (Area Median Income) who are trying to find housing. And again, here in Puerto Rico, as you can imagine, salaries are not what they are in the States. So it's not uncommon to see people paying two, three, four, or five hundred dollars a month for housing because the living wage here in Puerto Rico is not really what we're accustomed to in the States.” 

For Gonzalez, affordable housing is not a business model—it’s a mission.

“MHDC's 501(c)(3) status has been around since 1968,” he said. “We're one of the few organizations in the United States with 501(c)(3) status in housing. I don't believe you can attain that anymore. Our mission has always been affordable housing.” 

Gonzalez points to MHDC’s long-standing legacy in shaping national housing policy as a key part of its mission.

“MHDC is a company that has a landmark law case that brought affordable housing to the United States, back in the 1970s,” Gonzalez said. “There was a lawsuit where MHDC took the case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the gist of it was that the Supreme Court ruled municipalities could not change zoning rules to discriminate and block affordable housing in their municipalities.”

Looking ahead, Gonzalez sees Apolonia Apartments as a foundation for continued work for MHDC in Puerto Rico.

“This particular project, a beautiful 138-unit affordable housing development in the city of Bayamon, is on the cusp of breaking ground and closing,” he said. “I think it's important that it's followed through and that we're able to bring this last project to fruition. That's what I'm excited about, and then, obviously, to look to the future for other opportunities to develop affordable housing here on the island.”