Airport News

Plans for the next major expansion at Miami International Airport (MIA) have been unveiled at the Miami-Dade County's annual State of the Ports briefing that include a 33 acre hospitality centre, business park and convenience centre.

‘Airport City at MIA’ is a US$152m (£97m) project designed by Odebrecht USA and will be centred around a four star hotel linked to all the terminals. There will be up to one million square feet of Class A office space and a retail plaza that will straddle the Central Boulevard entrance to MIA and its parking garages.

"Airport City will put our airport on the global map in ways never before dreamed possible," said José Abreu, director of the county's Aviation Department, which owns and operates MIA. "In my opinion this is truly a transformational moment in the entire history of all US air transportation."

The project consists of three major components:

• Hospitality Center – ±425-room, four-star hotel and conference center
• Business Park – An office space with 150- to 300-room limited-service hotel accommodations, retail and restaurant facilities, and MIA Mover station.
• Convenience Center – to include convenience retail, dry cleaner, gas station, pet hotel/spa and other services.

"What really drives our passion for this unique project is the opportunity to create a significant impact on our community through thousands of jobs,” said Gilberto Neves, President & CEO of Odebrecht USA. "Also, by literally creating new commercial uses on what is today vacant land, and connecting them to the mass-transit lines, we will create a sustainable array of community benefits that will prosper for generations to come."

The development contract with Odebrecht is expected to be presented to the county's Transportation and Aviation Committee in March 2013 and shortly thereafter to the Board of County Commissioners for final approval. Odebrecht is responsible for all of the project's financing, construction and operational expenses, and the county's Aviation Department will share in project revenues.