The Orlando district office of PCL Construction Services Inc. recently secured the $475 million construction management contract for the Phase III expansion project of the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in Nassau, Bahamas.
The project’s total price tag: $1 billion.
PCL-Orlando is looking to spread the wealth by using Central Florida companies and subcontractors to staff the project.
That translates to between 3,500-4,000 construction personnel and contracts with between 150-200 different subtrades.
The construction industry and economists applaud the plan.
“That’s 5.4 percent of the local construction market,” says David Scott, chairman of the Dr. Phillips Institute at the University of Central Florida. “That’s a pretty hefty portion of the market. It’s huge.”
PCL-Orlando is no stranger to projects with an entertainment focus. For the last nine years, the company has been working with clients such as the Walt Disney World Resort and the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority. The company even headed up the $173 million parking structure project for Universal Orlando’s CityWalk.
Still, PCL-Orlando has maintained a relatively low profile in the marketplace.
“We do a lot of work that no one hears about. A lot of our clients call us a best-kept secret,” says Deron Brown, PCL’s Orlando and Southeast regional district manager.
For Kerzner International Resorts Inc., the choice of PCL-Orlando was a no-brainer.
“With a project of this magnitude, we needed someone who could deal with all aspects of it,” says Rick Bodge, Kerzner’s senior vice president of development. “PCL has the depth of organization and experience.”
However, there are aspects of the Atlantis project that are new for PCL-Orlando.
With a 24-month construction schedule, the project includes a hotel and restaurants, convention center and casino expansion, beach reconstruction and development of themed water features.
The work will not be done in phases, either. All aspects of the Atlantis project will begin and be worked on at the same time.
Construction will begin in December and be completed by November 2006.
To get the project mobilized, PCL-Orlando is looking to the Central Florida construction industry for help. According to Brown, PCL-Orlando will try to pull most of its manpower for the project from the region.
This is good news, says Diana Mucha, interim executive director of Associated General Contractors of Central Florida Inc.: “Working on a project like this definitely raises a business to another level.”
However, Mucha adds, the project will not be without its challenges.
“There are only a select number of contractors here that will be able to go to the Bahamas and do the work,” explains Mucha. “There also is a lack of skilled and reliable labor in the Bahamas.”
PCL-Orlando is trying to address these issues before it breaks ground. For example, Brown currently is looking to set up a marshaling area possibly at an area port to help move materials between Central Florida and the Bahamas more easily.
Further, Kerzner International is providing living areas for those working on the project.
In the end, though, UCF’s Scott believes the project will be a major victory for Central Florida’s construction industry and local economic development efforts.
“There is no half-empty glass here,” says Scott. “This is a glass-is-completely-full scenario. It’s good news for the company, good news for Central Florida and good news for workers here.”
By Noelle C. Haner, Orlando Business Journal
