As of May 21, 2020, at least five mechanics lien claims have been placed on the Royal Caribbean headquarters in Miami, FL, totaling nearly $15 million for unpaid work. Including the general contractor, five different contractors have filed the liens, with the latest claim filed on August 17th, 2020.
The general contractor manning the $300M new Royal Caribbean HQ is Plaza Construction Group Florida, LLC. According to the lien affidavits, each mechanics lien claim was filed with the Miami-Dade County clerk’s office. A mechanics lien is a legal claim for unpaid construction work that helps unpaid contractors gain a security interest on a property.
According to Plaza Construction Group, the Royal Caribbean HQ project is paced to be completed by 2024. The construction of the 10-story, 350 thousand-square-foot headquarters broke ground back in July of 2019.
Five Contractors Owed $14.8M
At least five contractors are owed a total of $14.8 million for construction of the new Royal Caribbean headquarters, located at 1050 Caribbean Way, Miami, FL.
Concrete subcontractor Baker Concrete Construction filed the largest lien on August 17th, 2020, for $11.66 million. They were hired by the project’s general contractor, Plaza Construction, to provide labor and materials relating to concrete construction.
Kenneth Brest, a sub-subcontractor on the project, filed two separate mechanics liens totaling $2.68 million, both on contracts with Baker Concrete Construction, Inc. The subcontractor worked on the job site from October 2019 until May 2020, reinforcing steel and post tension systems on the project’s parking garage and the main office tower.
On May 21, 2020, subcontractor Keller North America, Inc. filed a lien valued at $1.14 million against Plaza Construction Group Florida. The subcontractor contributed to the foundation of the new headquarters and worked on the job site from July 2019 until February 2020, according to the lien affidavit.
On June 4th, 2020, material supplier Gancedo Lumber, Inc. placed the fourth lien on the property valued at $83K. The lien named subcontractor Trojan Builders, Inc. as the hiring party.
Miami’s Construction Lien Rates Since January 2020
During the month of July in Miami, a total of 158 mechanics liens were processed. The total value of those liens was $14,809,752, according to filings from the Miami-Dade County clerk’s office.
The average construction lien placed on a Miami project in July of 2020 was $93,732.61. However, the actual number of liens filed was significantly down from the 257 lien claims filed in June, totaling $43,448,265, averaging $169,059.40 per claim.
Since the start of 2020, Miami experienced a spike in mechanics lien filings from January through June amid the coronavirus outbreak. Between January and July, over 1,900 lien claims exceeding $237M were filed on properties in Miami-Dade County.