FYI Miami: February 7, 2019

Below are some of the FYIs in this week’s edition. The entire content of this week’s FYIs and Insider sections is available by subscription only. To subscribe click here.

CONSTRUCTION GAINS 15% IN YEAR: Construction starts in South Florida rose 15% in 2018 from the 2017 total, Dodge Data & Analytics reported. The value of all building started during the year was nearly $12.8 billion in the Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties combined, Dodge said, versus just under $11.1 billion in 2017. Residential starts during the year rose 25% to total $6.8 billion, up from $5.4 billion, while nonresidential starts rose 5% to total $5.9 billion, up from $5.7 billion, Dodge reported. December set a blistering pace for nonresidential construction, up 80%, while the value of residential construction starts in the month fell 13% from December 2017.

SPICING DISTRIBUTION: Badia Spices is using county funds awarded in October to grow, says representative Lori A. Conduris, who did not elaborate. The funds are meant to pay for a distribution center close to Badia’s Doral headquarters at 1400 NW 93rd Ave. The company purchased 2.72 acres from Lagunita Holdings at 2101 NW 82nd Ave. and promised to spend about $1 million in renovating the 54,361-square-foot center. County commissioners approved the company to receive a maximum of $9.5 million in 2018 from taxable industrial development revenue bonds.

DRINKING WATER LAB FLOWS: Plans will proceed for a roughly $7.2 million, 1,056-day construction project of a “drinking water laboratory” at the Alexander Orr Jr. Water Treatment Plant in Sunset, as Miami-Dade commissioners unanimously approved the project and its contractor, Florida Lemark Corp. Upon completion, the new facility will house a staff of 20, as well as 12 visitors, and include a 32-vehicle parking lot, two mass-spectrometer gas-chromatograph labs, three wet chemistry general labs and a sewage pump station. Miami-Dade requested design-build services under full and open competition April 29, 2015. Florida Lemark, one of two firms that submitted proposals by Sept. 7, 2016, was cleared for negotiations with the county Nov. 11, 2017, according to a memo from Mayor Carlos Giménez. The firm is estimated to receive notice to proceed Feb. 15.

HOTEL RATES GAIN: Average hotel room rates in Miami-Dade County grew fastest in the nation in 2018, rising 6.1% from $187.88 to $199.35, the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau reported this week, citing statistics from STR, a travel research organization. The rate was the fourth-highest in the nation among the top 25 markets, the bureau said. The revenue per available room grew 6.3% in the year, from $143.76 to $152.81, the second-highest growth rate in the US. Occupancy rose 0.3%, from 76.5% to 76.7%, as the number of hotel rooms in the market also increased.