Despite COVID-19 turmoil, construction is underway at new PortMiami terminal
By November, PortMiami will open another glossy new cruise terminal in its years-long effort to remake the city skyline.
Despite cruising’s pandemic stall, Miami-Dade County celebrated groundbreaking Tuesday for the palm grove-inspired Terminal V — named for the industry’s newest cruise company, Virgin Voyages.
“This industry is resilient,” said Virgin Voyages CEO Tom McAlpin, over the sound of bulldozers and hammering yards away. “The future is very bright.”
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, PortMiami Director Juan Kuryla and eight county commissioners attended the groundbreaking ceremony, which was delayed since June by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first celebratory event of its kind at the port since the pandemic paralyzed the cruise industry in mid-March.
Royal Caribbean Group opened the first branded terminal at the port in
2018, followed by Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings in 2020. MSC Cruises and Carnival Corporation are also planning new dedicated terminals.
Virgin Voyages’ first ship, Scarlet Lady, was scheduled to begin cruising from PortMiami in March, just as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention banned cruising after COVID-19 outbreaks and deaths on several ships. Scarlet Lady has yet to host passengers from Miami and has since left U.S. waters for Italy, where McAlpin said it is easier to get crew to and from the ship.
Amid the industry upheaval, the Virgin cruise terminal’s future was in doubt, according to Michael Roblin, a senior project manager with Suffolk
Construction, the lead building firm.
“This project almost went away,” he said.
Originally slated to cost Miami-Dade County around $179 million, the Terminal V project was deemed too expensive when Virgin and PortMiami renegotiated terms after the cruise shutdown began. The design and construction teams adjusted the plans to lower the price tag, Roblin said. For example, a planned bridge from the parking garage across the street was scrapped, and the construction company donated some funds.
The changes trimmed about $20 million. The project — which now costs $158,641,073.20, according to an agreement approved by Miami-Dade commissioners in October — is still expected to meet its original completion date of November of this year. The project includes adding land and a seawall to allow
Virgin’s ships to dock.
Whether passenger cruises will be operating by then is still an open question. Companies are still awaiting guidance from the CDC about how they will be conducting mock cruises, the next step in a long list of requirements from the agency before cruising can resume.
For now, Virgin Voyages has canceled all cruises through May 8. The company’s second ship, Valiant Lady, is expected to debut in July. Virgin Voyages will pay the county for the cost
of the terminal and more in passenger fees over the course of its 30-year usage deal.
Designed by Miamibased architecture firm Arquitectonica, the terminal’s roof and ceiling will resemble a palm canopy. Nestled directly next to the port bridge, the ship will have a direct view of AmericanAirlines Arena, the Dame Zaha Hadid building (One Thousand Museum), and the rest of the downtown Miami skyline.
McAlpin, the Virgin Voyages CEO and Miami native, called the view “iconic.”
“We’ve got the best spot,” he said.
McAlpin said the building is on track to achieve “gold” status from the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), second only to “platinum” in the organization’s rating system for building sustainability. It will be the first building to achieve LEED “gold” status at the port. Royal Caribbean Group’s Terminal A is LEED “silver.”
“We want to do the right thing,” said McAlpin. “It didn’t make sense for us to build a new terminal if it wasn’t LEED gold. We put a lot of effort into it. It costs a little bit more obviously to do that, but we think it’s the right thing to do.”
Five-hundred construction workers have worked on the project thus far, and Roblin expects another
500 will work on it before it is completed. To account for sea-level rise, the floor of the terminal sits 11.5 feet above the water, Roblin said.
Though the timing for cruising’s comeback is still uncertain, Mayor Levine Cava said the Terminal V groundbreaking is a positive sign of the industry’s recovery.
“The industry understands that they can’t have a repeat of what has happened in the past,” she said. “Everyone is waiting and watching for when it is safe to sail again. We are the cruising capital. ... We’ve been very innovative and aggressive to make sure we remain the cruising capital.”