Robert P. Salas seems relaxed in his office at the Hilton Guam Resort & Spa.
But the various initiatives his group is working on are anything but laid back.
Robert SalasSalas is also shepherding through a community initiative that has brought together civic organizations and the Government of Guam. And after three decades of his own companies, he also has his eyes on the bigger picture of business development.
Salas owns RE/MAX Pacific Alliance Realty and Shawn Blas is the principal broker. He is working on two initiatives — a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit or LIHTC program of 49 affordable housing units at Sugar Dock, Saipan and a private sector development of 47 units of “medium sized houses.” The Paradise Country development is in Talofofo, and Salas said, “We’re in the permit stage.”
That development is one that Richard J. Untalan spearheaded with other investors as PRI Inc., with the first of those being the 381 single family units at Paradise Estates in Dededo, according to Journal files, marketed by The Guam Real Estate Professionals. Paradise Meadows
in Yigo and Paradise Court in Mangilao followed.
Salas is pleased with the relationship, he said. “Anything that Richard touches succeeds; he knows what he’s doing. … He’s been successful,” Salas said.
“We also have a constructional management team,” he said. Doing business as Guam Pacific Alliance LLC, that team is managed by John Sage, the longtime construction and engineering executive, with W.B. Flores & Associates “on our team,” Salas said. “We’re doing a few jobs on Camp Blaz — utility lines preparation,” for example, he said.
LMS also was awarded the Conforming Storage Facility contract for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Airforce. “Any waste that comes through Guam, we touch it, categorize it, document it, so we can make the preparation for disposal. Sometimes we are disposing of it,” he said. The contract covers waste from visiting ships. “In addition, he said, “We also manage and inspect 70 satellite sites.”
Other continuing business lines include LMS Imports equipment rental.
“We rented 102 pieces of equipment to the federal government for their ordnance surveillance — all the trucks and forklifts and trailers,” Salas said. Operating through a five-year lease, Salas said, “Some of the equipment they returned already.” The company imports a lot of equipment for rental and sale, he said. “The value for us is we have other contractors that come to us, because we have toys that are very unique.
Salas is also part of a group that includes representation of the Guam Chamber of Commerce and the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, working in conjunction with the Government of Guam to replace the Chief Kapuha statue. “I pulled together a team. We’re going to donate that.” Salas plans on reach out to the Guam Contractors Association when their member help is needed.
The replacement Chief Kapuha statue is currently in preparation. Photo courtesy of LMS Inc. The Chief Kapuha statue pictures the first CHamoru to be baptized. The chief also gave a Padre Diego Luis de San Vitores the authority and land to start a Catholic mission in Hagåtña.
Gov. Ricardo J. Bordallo erected the 11-foot statue depicting the chief in July 1976. For decades it stood as a familiar landmark at the Paseo in the island’s capital.
The original statue was replaced in 2016. There was already a plan to replace that statue when it was toppled during Typhoon Mawar in May 2023.
“We’re making a replica,” Salas told the paper. “It’s going to be the same.” The patina of the statue has also been carefully planned, Salas said. “We’re making it look like antique bronze.”
As to the area of the Paseo where the new statue will stand, Salas said, “We’re going to clear that up. We’ll do the landscaping.” The area already has basalt rocks in place, he said. A large tasa, the cap stone of the latte stone, already compliments the area.
The statue has drawn plenty of attention in the past. “There was a lot of controversy about the cost of it,” Salas said. However, he said, “The most important thing is to get the statue up.” The statue is being prepared with artisanal care in China. “We’re in the production stage right now,” Salas said.
