Balfour Beatty to Helm $260M Miami Project

By Barbra Murray

Leo Quinn, group chief executive, Balfour Beatty

Balfour Beatty just landed a $260 million contract for a premier development in Miami. The international infrastructure group has been tapped to build River Landing Shops and Residences, a 2 million-square-foot property that will sprout up along the Miami River in the city’s Health District. H&R REIT, Urbanx Co. and Matthews Southwest are the developers behind the mixed-use project.

“This transformational development in the heart of Miami builds on Balfour Beatty’s historical and growing relationship with Matthews Southwest as we expand on our presence in the South Florida market,” Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive, said in a prepared statement.

River Landing has been in the works for a few years, and H&R gave the project a major push forward in January 2017, when the REIT shelled out $34 million on the acquisition of a mortgage receivable secured against the eight-plus acres on which the mixed-use development will be erected. Designed by ADD Inc., River Landing will consist of two residential buildings encompassing 475 rental apartments and a five-story, 426,000-square-foot retail center. There will also be 2,200 parking spaces and green space at the site. Construction on the project should commence towards the end of the year.

THE CONTRACTS JUST KEEP COMING

The U.S. division of London-based Balfour Beatty is keeping quite busy. Current assignments include the $230 million Harrison Medical Center in Seattle; a $150 million contract for an airport hotel in Atlanta; and a $100 million contract for the 500,000-square-foot renovation and expansion of Cleburne High School in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. However, the Sunshine State remains high on the company’s radar.

“We’re concentrating on Florida,” Quinn said during Balfour Beatty’s half-year 2017 results presentation on August 16. “We’ve recently upgraded the leadership in Florida and in Georgia; we’ve combined our Georgia operations with our Charlotte operations so we’ve got strong leadership in there; Washington DC is strong. So, I think we’ve got a very strong footprint in very attractive markets where they’re urbanizing and people are actually moving south,” concluded Quinn.

Balfour Beatty is on track to conclude construction of River Landing in the fourth quarter of 2019.

Image courtesy of Balfour Beatty