Miami construction projects continue despite hurdles
Despite the closure of the Miami-Dade permit center and a plea from a prominent developer to impose a construction moratorium, many jobs are moving forward.
At the Aston Martin Residences site at 300 Biscayne Blvd. Way, general contractor Coastal Construction
is enforcing social distancing with the help of monitors, according to a spokesperson for G&G Developments, a development partner in the project.
“We also have monitors that are enforcing these policies throughout the day, making sure that they are followed. The crews have had to adjust to a new way of working due to the social distancing rules,” the spokesperson wrote via an email.
Multiple other developers declined to comment. But construction sites were visibly active throughout the region Wednesday, despite a call Tuesday to stop all construction by Sergio Pino, president of the Gablesbased Century Homebuilders, to avoid the spread of COVID-19.
Pino halted work at the firm’s $100 million 850 Le Jeune Road mixed-use project on March 26 after two of the construction workers tested positive for coronavirus. It will remain closed for at least 14 days.
Peter Dyga, president and chief executive officer of Associate Builders and Contractors, defended the projects that are moving forward.
“If you shut down an industry as a whole, it will not be able to respond as quickly to what people deem as important, such as building a field hospital,” he said.
Murray Rice, owner of the Deerfield-based Richard and Rice Construction, is building projects for clients including Lennar, Pulte and D.R. Horton. Crew numbers on site remain the same as before the coronavirus crisis, he said, and he is requiring all construction workers to work six feet apart and not congregate.
The closure of the county’s permitting center seems to have had little impact — so far.
On Saturday, MiamiDade County halted inspection for safety code and compliance of all construction job sites until April 7. During the 10-day closure, developers and contractors must hire their own engineers to inspect job sites.
Most of his developers are hiring private inspectors, Rice said, because without one “that shuts the job site down. “
The county office closure has brought a bump in inspection inquiries at Miami Springs-based engineering consultancy firm GFA International, a branch of Universal Engineering Sciences, said its chairman Gary Elzweig. Developers and contractors anticipated the shutdown, and over the past three weeks requests for his firm’s service have tripled, Elzweig said.
The use of private inspectors is nothing new, Elzweig noted. He helped write the legislation that passed in 2002 and allows local contractors and developers to use private providers.
GFA International oversees about 1,300 employees and has hundreds of projects across the state, Elzweig said.
“We get a call if a project is spread too thin,” Elzweig said. “It keeps a project moving forward.”
But unlike county inspections, who are paid through permit fees, private inspectors come with a price tag. Consultants normally charge by the hour, said Elzweig, with a three-hour minimum per site visit and $135 hourly average rate.
Rebecca San Juan: 305.376.2160, @rebecca_sanjuan