October contract expected for a Miami International Airport hotel

The county has extended the second phase of a request for proposals to build a 4-star, 350-key hotel at Miami International Airport until May 25 at bidders’ request. “The county considered the requests reasonable,” an Aviation Department spokesperson emailed to the newspaper.

The second phase is to be followed by the contract award, which is now anticipated in October, pending approval by the county commission. The date for the award prior to the extension was September.

The project package issued by the Internal Services Department was first released in July 2020. The county is looking for a 4-star hotel with at least 350 keys, a sit-down full-service restaurant and bar, 24-hour prepared food and beverage, a business center, meeting and banquet space of at least 20,000 square feet, a fitness center, valet parking, and the possibility of a few concession opportunities for those already in the airport.

FDR Miami Hotel LLC; Mainsail Development International LLC; and Parmco Airport Hospitality LLC are three firms with local ties bidding on the project, although the county won’t know all the bidders until the second phase concludes, the spokesperson confirmed.

As Miami Today reported in August 2021, Mainsail Development International LLC is a subsidiary of Tampa-based hotel builder and operator Mainsail Lodging and Development, whose Miami-born founder and president, Joe Collier, previously worked for Marriott in marketing, sales and development. The company is led by experts in hospitality with national and international experience.

FDR Miami Hotel LLC is listed with the Florida Division of Corporations with the New York address of global real estate developer The Related Companies, founded and led by Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross. The open-database source OpenCorporates lists Related MIA Airport Member LLC as the agent of the company.

Parmco Airport Hospitality LLC, is owned by investor-developer Darryl Parmenter and real estate economic advisor Paul Lambert, who is also co-owner and developer of the Miami Wilds waterpark project next to ZooMiami.

The waterpark project documentation is being revised by the Parks Department and the County Attorney’s Office to then get the execution of the lease package by the county mayor.

According to county documents, the hotel project is to include a pedestrian bridge connecting the new hotel to concourse D, and all costs for the design, permitting, construction, operation, and maintenance of the hotel are to be paid by the concessionaire.

The project is part of the $5 billion airport Capital Improvement Program which includes five sub-programs: a redevelopment of Central Terminal concourses E and F; an expanded South Terminal, concourses H and J; renovated Concourse D gates to accommodate additional wide- and narrow-body aircraft, as well as larger regional jets; two new hotels, one with a business and conference center with exhibition space and other miscellaneous landside projects; and expanded aircraft parking and warehouses for cargo operations.

Currently, MIA has a 267-key hotel constructed in 1959 in the Central Terminal area; plans to build a new hotel date as far as 2013. In the US, major airports already have hotels within them, such as the Grand Hyatt at San Francisco International Airport, the TWA Hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and the H Hotel Los Angeles, Curio Collection by Hilton at Los Angeles International Airport.