Construction industry titan Odebrecht is miffed at how long it is taking Miami-Dade County to move the proposed Airport City development along at Miami International Airport.
Gilberto Neves, the president and CEO of the U.S. subsidiary of the Brazilian construction firm, sent a letter to the county blasting the Aviation Department for allegedly stalling the project. Odebrecht could decide to request the reimbursement of $11 million the company paid for planning and damages caused by “the continually changing and oddly timed articulated reasons for not moving the project forward,” Neves wrote. In the letter, Neves suggested department officials may be skittish about working with Odebrecht because a subsidiary of the firm expanded a port in Cuba two years ago.
The office of Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez had not responded to Odebrecht’s letter as of Tuesday, according to Miami Today.
Original Airport City plans included a business park with hotel and meeting facilities, office and retail space and restaurants on 33.5 acres. [Miami Today] — Eric Kalis