Basketball Player José Juan Barea Teams Up With Hotelier to Build Multi-Sports Center in Hato Rey

The basketball player is behind a $7 million project that will include indoor and outdoor fields for a variety of sports, a restaurant, and a hotel where athletes can stay while training.

Former NBA player José Juan Barea and hotelier Ricky Newman will build a multi-sports complex called JUMP Sports Development Center in Hato Rey.

Construction on the $7 million-dollar project will start this month, and will include indoor and outdoor spaces on the five-acre campus that was previously the location of private school Nuestra Señora de La Merced.

JUMP will also house basketball and volleyball courts, beach volleyball, beach tennis, a rehabilitation center, training rooms, an outdoor soccer field, a retail and sports equipment store, and a food and beverage venue.

The facility will have a 23-room hotel with capacity for 111 people to offer athletes the opportunity to train and lodge in the same place.

The project could attract minor tournaments from the US and become the venue for preseason NCAA teams.

Barea, who played with the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves, announced that he would play another season with the Cangrejeros de Santurce, in the National Superior Basketball, and that JUMP could become the practice spot for the Cangrejeros and any other team that needed the space.

The first stage of JUMP should be completed by Fall 2022, and is expected to open at the end of 2022.