Chef José Andrés paid less than event productions

The daily cost for the various spaces offered at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, which are being used as support centers for the victims of Hurricane Maria, are minimal compared to the prices given to ‘regular clients to hold an event’.

These were the statements made to NotiCel by Eduardo Cajina, general manager of the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, while explaining the facility’s rental prices. The Coliseo is also being used as a collection center for Unidos por Puerto Rico, an organization founded after the hurricane struck by the Office of the First Lady Beatriz Rosselló. Cajina explained that they are also charging for the space used by the collection center, but he assured that the prices are also lower than what they bill regular clients.

‘Yes, the collection center is indeed paying for the space they’re using, which is bigger than the one occupied by WCK,’ he said. ‘Their space includes an area in the arena, loading and unloading zones, parking, and additional services, such as operational personnel, security-related expenses, and cleaning services, among others.’ The executive specified that the daily cost for the space used by the organization promoted by the first lady amounts to $11,600, ‘due to the size and kind of space it is’.

He added that, in contrast, if it were a regular client producing an event, the amount to rent the arena space would be at least $25,000 per day.

This information has come to light after the statements made by Spanish chef Jose Andres. The chef paid $8,000 a day for the rented space to create a gigantic kitchen that would feed the victims of Hurricane Maria, and said that this had been the most expensive rent he had paid in his life.

‘Our usual business is not this kind of rental. We specialize in events. For example, the rental price for our smallest room starts at $2,000, and that would be for only five hours.

By comparison, WCK (World Central Kitchen, the chef’s non-profit company) operated for 16 to 18 hours per day. ‘If he had been a regular client, we would have billed $12,000 to $18,000 a day,’ Cajina said.

After the statements made by the Spanish chef, the Coliseo’s management asserted that, ‘prior to the contract with us, the Convention Center District Authority–the government agency that controls the Coliseo and other facilities–presented WCK with several facility alternatives that were free of cost. However, WCK insisted on establishing its operations in the Coliseo.’

‘The rental rules to use the Coliseo were established under agreement with WCK, after they made an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to cover food requirements after the hurricane.

The daily rental amount was agreed upon with WCK, and it considers the Coliseo’s operational costs, including the use of the kitchen and all its equipment, operational personnel, utilities, diesel, water, electricity, and gas, as well as storage, a refrigeration area for the food, garbage disposal, security expenses, cleaning, ambulance and paramedics, open spaces for volunteers to prepare the food, access to the loading dock, and parallel parking spaces for food trucks, among others,’ he explained in a written statement.