Milla de Oro (English for Gilded Mile) is both the popular name given to the main central business district of San Juan and a nickname given to the sections of Juan Ponce de León Avenue and Luis Muñoz Rivera Avenue that cross Hato Rey Norte from north to south. It encompasses the largest agglomeration of corporate investment, banking and finance institutions in the Caribbean. The headquarters of Puerto Rico's largest retail investment bank, Popular, Inc., are located at Popular Center in 208 Juan Ponce de León Ave. La Milla de Oro is served by the Tren Urbano stations of Hato Rey, Roosevelt, Domenech and Piñero stations in addition to numerous bus routes with connections to Río Piedras, Plaza Las Américas, Santurce and Old San Juan.
Milla de Oro | |
|---|---|
| Hato Rey | |
 _01.jpg) Milla de Oro skyline and Luis Muñoz Avenue at Milla de Oro | |
| Commonwealth |  Puerto Rico |
| Municipality |  San Juan |
1. Fine Arts Cinema Cafe
2. Popular, Inc.
3. Citigroup
4. Westernbank World Plaza
5. American International Group
List of buildings at La Milla de Oro
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- Popular, Inc. headquarters (3 buildings)
- AFI Plaza (Seaborne Airlines Plaza) (formerly Westernbank World Plaza, the Banco de Ponce headquarters); acquired by Banco Popular de Puerto Rico after an FDIC closure of several banks on the Island in 2010.
- Kevane Grant Thornton Building (formerly known as Bolivia 33)
- The Hato Rey Center (formerly known as Home Mortgage Plaza)
- Banco Santander building
- Plaza 273 (formerly known as Plaza Scotiabank)
- Plaza 221 (formerly known as Banco Economias, Banco Central Hispano and then Banco Santander)
- American International Group (AIG) building
- MCS Plaza (Formerly Pan-Am Plaza)
- Puerto Rico Comptroller’s Office building
- City of San Juan government tower
- AON Center
- City Towers (formerly known as Citibank Tower)
- Centrum Plaza
- Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources (Departamento del Trabajo y Recursos Humanos) building
- José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum (Coliseo de Puerto Rico)
- OFG Bancorp Center (formerly Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza and BBVA Plaza)
- Tren Urbano Hato Rey station
- Tren Urbano Roosevelt station
- Aquablue at the Golden Mile
- Quantum Metrocenter, designed by SCF Arquitectos and built in 2012
- Uruguay 269 (under construction)
- Coliseum Tower (completed)
- Metropolis (under construction)
- Infinity (under Construction)
- Torre Mayor [1]
- Instituto Socio Economico Comunitario (www.insec.org)
- Fine Arts Cafe (an upscale Repertory Theatre owned by Caribbean Cinemas)
- Fi Sigma Alfa Fraternity Club House (Restaurant and activities hall)[1]
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Plans
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Milla de Oro has received criticism from nearby communities for its lonely and dark environment after work hours. In order to foster tourism and economic growth in the area, the government has planned to convert the district into a more community friendly sector by attracting tourists, visitors, and local residents to the district during after hours through concerts, retail shops, and nightspots.
The first phase of this conversion was to locate the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum and several Tren Urbano metro system stations in the district. Banco Popular recently inaugurated a new project near its headquarters called Arts Cinemas at Popular Center for exhibiting foreign and independent films and a deli-café. New residential apartments and a 31-story high commercial complex near the Coliseum are being developed in the area as well.
Milla de Oro in popular culture
editThe Milla de Oro was heavily featured in the Calle 13 2010 musical video for "Calma Pueblo". The song features lead singer, Residente, singing on top of a building while businessmen and random people run around the Milla de Oro, eventually getting naked.[2][3]
The Milla de Oro was also featured in the film Fast Five during one of the heists.[4]
References
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- ^ Shokooh Valle, Firuzeh (14 March 2005). "Fraternidad con fin social y sin violencia" (in Spanish). PRIMERA HORA. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 2008-01-03.
- ^ "Controvertible video de Calle 13". El Nuevo Día. July 29, 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013.
- ^ Amary Santiago Torres (July 29, 2010). "Explosión musical y creativa de Calle 13". Primera Hora.
- ^ "Sigue prendía la acción de Fast Five en Hato Rey". Primera Hora. July 26, 2010.