Gilberto Neves, president and CEO, Odebrecht USA, at Miami International Airport. Daniel Portnoy / Courtesy Odebrecht
Odebrecht in the United States
Odebrecht USA:
Headquartered in Coral Gables with offices in Houston and New Orleans.
The construction company has built many public works projects in
Miami-Dade County, bridges throughout Florida, highways in Texas,
California, South Carolina, North Carolina and Florida, the Seven Oaks
Dam in California and new water pumping stations and fortified levees in
New Orleans.
Ongoing Florida projects:
• Miami International Airport North Terminal (Final phase — the baggage
handling system that will connect with North Terminal international
arrivals — is scheduled to be completed in February.)
• Wharf-strengthening at PortMiami in preparation for deepening the
shipping channel. As a prelude, 185 corals were relocated to a more
suitable environment.
• Widening of SR 8360I-385 near Biscayne Bay
• Embankment, wall and drainage work for new south runway at Fort
Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and development of
navigational aids infrastructure.
• Rehabilitation of the
Herbert Hoover Dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee (replacement of two
culverts near Moore Haven) for the Army Corps of Engineers
• Working on preparing bids for $2.8 billion worth of FDOT projects
Braskem America:
Headquartered in Philadelphia, it is the leading producer of
polypropylene in the United States and has five U.S. production plants.
Subsidiary of Odebrecht’s Braskem S.A., the top thermoplastic resins
producer in the Americas. The parent company has 36 industrial plants in
the U.S., Brazil and Germany.
Odebrecht Environmental: It has offices in Coral Gables and Houston and is developing models for water re-use projects
Shaping the face of Miami-Dade
Odebrecht
USA has been involved in the construction of some of the county’s most
visited and iconic public structures and venues, including these four:
By MIMI WHITEFIELD
Odebrecht USA. It’s a name that pops up on signs at construction
sites all over South Florida and a company that has had a major role in
public projects from American Airlines Arena and the Adrienne Arsht
Center for the Performing Arts to the North and South Terminals at Miami
International Airport.
Despite winning dozens of public contracts
valued at more than $4 billion in Florida since working on its first
local project, the Metromover, in 1991, Odebrecht USA has been able to
maintain a fairly low profile — until recently.
Because the construction company is so prolific in South Florida, many people have assumed it has local roots.
But Odebrecht USA is part of a Brazilian conglomerate that has
become a global force with interests that now stretch well beyond Latin
America where it’s the largest construction and engineering company in
the region.
Part of the reason many people have been confused by Odebrecht’s origins is by design.
“In
every place we go, we become local,’’ said Gilberto Neves, 53,
president and chief executive of Odebrecht USA. A Brazilian from Minas
Gerais who has worked for Odebrecht since 1983, Neves was one of the
founders of the U.S. division. “We send a small group from Brazil, and
then we hire locally.”
The company’s strategy also includes
subcontracting with local companies and it has shared work with more
than 300 small businesses in the 23 years it has been in the United
States, said company officials.
While Odebrecht is known as a
construction company in South Florida, the Brazilian parent company has
diversified far beyond that with interests in petrochemicals, sugar,
ethanol and bioenergy, power generation, water and environmental
engineering, oil and gas, plastics, transportation/logistics, and
defense and technology.
It builds oil platforms, has developed a
technique to make plastic from sugar cane, is a founding member of
Brazil’s Green Building Council, and is a real estate developer in
Brazil.
From a small family firm founded in Salvador, Bahia, by
Norberto Odebrecht in 1944, Odebrecht S.A. has grown into a
multinational with almost 200,000 employees. It is active in 25
countries, and its investment division expects to invest $25 billion
around the world over the next three years. Company assets exceed $59
billion, and it is now ranked as the 13th-largest contractor in the
world.
The holding company’s projects now dot five continents, but
it is the parent company’s work in Cuba that has put Odebrecht USA in
the hot seat just as it hoped to embark on one of its most ambitious
local projects: Airport City.
The massive, $512 million project
would sprawl over 33.5 acres just east of Miami International Airport’s
terminals and parking garages and include a business park with
restaurants, retail and office space, a four-star hotel with conference
facilities, a convenience center that would include services such as a
dry cleaner, pet hotel, market and gas station and a new MIA Mover
station at the business park.
To realize the project, Odebrecht
USA proposed a different business model: It would build Airport City on
county land west of Le Jeune Road, get private financing, and then pay
rent and a percentage of revenue to the county for 50 years. The airport
would continue to own the land, and all the buildings would be titled
to the airport.
Odebrecht sees the project as a win-win for itself
and the county. It gets to build a massive new development on public
land; the county would get new revenue from land leases, revenue sharing
and the new Airport City businesses that would pay taxes.
Odebrecht
had hoped the project would be underway by now. But instead of breaking
ground, Odebrecht has run into roadblock after roadblock.
Because it’s an airport project, the Federal Aviation Administration
needed to sign off on the proposed lease agreement with the county and
certify that there was no appreciable environmental impact. After a
back-and-forth on questions, the FAA approvals finally came in January
and March — more than a year longer than Odebrecht had anticipated.
But well before that, the project hit a wall when politicians became
aware that Companhia de Obras em Infraestrutura, an affiliate of
Odebrecht USA’s parent company, was working on a project to revamp the
Cuban port of Mariel. The Brazilian company also has signed a 10-year
joint production agreement with the Cuban government to operate a sugar
mill and help revive the country’s ailing sugar industry.
In a
letter to the Miami Herald editorial board, Mario Claver-Carone,
director of the pro-embargo U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC, accused Odebrecht
of “seducing Miami-Dade County commissioners” for more than a decade to
win contracts all over the county. Companies that choose to do business
with Cuba, he said, shouldn’t also profit from “Cuban-Americans in
Florida’s free market.’’
“Politics is politics anywhere in the
world. We are apolitical,’’ Neves said. “We think the economic benefits
for Miami-Dade County would outweigh’’ any concerns about Cuba.
State
legislators also got into the act, approving a law in March 2012 that
appeared to target Odebrecht. It prohibited state and local governments
from hiring companies with business ties to Cuba for any work worth at
least $1 million. It was set to take effect July 1, 2012.
Odebrecht
USA quickly sued in federal court in Miami, contesting the law. The
Coral Gables-based company said it has never done business in Cuba and
contended the Florida law was unconstitutional and unenforceable because
it set foreign policy. A federal appeals court ruled in favor of the
company in May, and the state of Florida said last month it won’t
contest the ruling and the law won’t be enforced.
Odebrecht USA
doesn’t report to the same division as the one overseeing the projects
in Cuba. Neves’ boss works for Odebrecht Industrial.
Industry
sources say the Mariel project is nearing completion. But Companhia de
Obras em Infraestrutura has a confidentiality agreement with the Cuban
government that precludes Odebrecht from providing any details about the
work, said a company spokesman in Brazil.
The powerful
Miami-based Latin Builders Association opposes Odebrecht’s bid to build
Airport City. Bernie Navarro, LBA president, wrote to executives of
industry associations in late March opposing Odebrecht’s involvement in
Airport City and urging solidarity with “our brothers in Cuba.’’
Odebrecht had invited construction trade organizations to attend an
April 1 information session on the project.
“I can assure you that
the LBA will not help Odebrecht in their continuous pursuit of Airport
City,’’ he said in the letter. “We can’t allow Odebrecht to traffic with
our suffering. You do business here or you can do business in Communist
Cuba. It is a choice. It can’t be both ways.”
Navarro said that’s
still the position of the 750-member LBA. “It was pretty
controversial,’’ he said. “We genuinely like Gilberto Neves and know he
doesn’t control what his parent company does in Cuba, but he does work
for them.”
The Cuba controversy is somewhat ironic for Odebrecht USA, given its early history.
It
was the late Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of the exile Cuban American
National Foundation, who first introduced Odebrecht USA to South
Florida. Mas’ Church & Tower (now MasTec) was its first partner
after Odebrecht USA incorporated on Aug. 20, 1990.
Odebrecht had a
75 percent interest and Church & Tower had the remaining 25 percent
in the joint venture that was the successful bidder for the downtown
Brickell Loop of the Metromover.
But it almost missed out on the
bid. Odebrecht’s fax broke down just as it was about to tender its bid
on deadline. The day was saved when an Odebrecht executive ran to a
nearby coffee shop, grabbed its fax and carried it back to the Odebrecht
office.
Odebrecht and Church & Tower did a second project together — a South Dade landfill. “We built Mount Trashmore,’’ said Neves.
“We
chose Miami because it’s a natural, a gateway city and the language and
culture were familiar,’’ said Neves, “and we wanted a presence in the
most competitive market there is — the United States — to test
ourselves.’’
At first, Odebrecht was focused on winning bids in
Miami-Dade County, but then it branched out, doing bridge projects for
the Florida Department of Transportation. Among its ongoing Florida
projects are adding a runway at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International
Airport — completion date: summer 2014 — and restoration of the dike
surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
MIAMI-DADE PRESENCE
But Miami-Dade County has been Odebrecht’s bread and butter.
Among
the company’s local public projects are the Arsht Center; the 50-gate
North Terminal, South Terminal and Concourse J at Miami International
Airport; American Airlines Arena; MiaMover — the 1.25-mile link between
MIA and the Miami Car Rental Center, the AirportLink of the Metrorail
system, the Florida International University football stadium, and the
Golden Glades Flyover.
It’s now finishing work on a $50 million
job to reinforce the wharves at PortMiami. The wharf-strengthening must
be completed before dredging begins so the port can handle the huge
post-Panamax ships that will soon traverse an expanded Panama Canal.
Odebrecht is also working on an I-395 roadway and bridge-widening
project near Biscayne Bay.
As the Mariel controversy has swirled, “we just kept working,” said Neves. “We never slowed down.”
Through the years, Odebrecht also has done some private projects,
including the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne Resort & Spa, Fortune House,
a 29-story apart hotel, and Ocean Steps, a residential building in
Miami Beach with shopping on the ground floor.
Odebrecht often
joint ventures with local companies and it likes to use small businesses
as subcontractors. It’s also a generous contributor to local charities,
cultural organizations and schools.
Odebrecht’s philosophy has long been to grow its own business while bringing small businesses along in the process.
When Eloise Gonzalez’s Miami company, Commercial Interior Contractors
Corp., became a Odebrecht subcontractor some 20 years ago, she described
her business, which does drywall, painting, flooring and carpeting, as
“peanuts.’’
“Gilberto was my mentor for many years. He took the
time to teach me,’’ she said. “I got an education from them that I
consider my MBA.’’
Through the years, Gonzalez has worked on the
MIA terminals, Fortune House, the MiaMover and the Miami-Dade Water
& Sewer headquarters as a subcontractor.
She also was tapped
by Odebrecht to work on reconstruction of the Port-au-Prince airport
after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti. “To me this is their most honorable
project. They contributed money, food, supplies, laborers, you name
it,’’ she said.
Gonzalez recently won a contract at the Fort Myers
airport — not as a subcontractor but on her own. “I was able to get
this project because my company is competent and I owe that to
Odebrecht,’’ she said.
In the past two decades, Neves said,
Odebrecht has awarded Florida small businesses $800 million in
sub-contracts, generating 103,000 direct and indirect jobs.
“I
don’t think we can refute that,” said Navarro, “but the issue of Cuba is
still fresh on many people’s minds and the Latin Builders is an
organization built on helping Cuban builders who needed representation
after they fled their homeland. We can’t just put that into a vacuum —
even if Gilberto is a good guy.”
‘SHOVEL-READY’
Now
with the FAA approvals in hand, Odebrecht executives would like to get
started on Airport City. “We are shovel-ready,’’ said Bernard Zyscovich,
whose firm is the planner and architect.
But there is a crucial
missing ingredient: approval by the Miami-Dade County Commission. No
date has been set for a vote on the politically volatile project.
Former MIA Director José Abreu, who retired earlier this year, was a fan of the Airport City project.
When his successor, Emilio T. González took the reins in April, he
wanted to review it and asked to reopen negotiations with Odebrecht to
give the county a better deal. There have been several meetings.
“We are renegotiating the Airport City agreement to terms that better
correspond to the current financial climate, since the original terms
were negotiated soon after the recession,’’ González said.
But
González gives high marks to Odebrecht’s work at the airport. “The
Parsons-Odebrecht joint venture team has delivered to the county
award-winning facilities like South Terminal, North Terminal and the MIA
Mover that have doubled MIA in size and modernized it into a
world-class airport, and they have been tremendous partners in the
transformation of MIA over the last decade.”
Neves said when the
airport director asked for more, including an increase in transfer fees,
Odebrecht agreed. The company also addressed county concerns about
sequencing of construction on the four parcels of land involved. “I
think we’ve reached a deal,’’ Neves said.
Greg Chin,
communications director at the airport, said it’s unclear whether a
renegotiated agreement would have to be submitted to the FAA again for
approval.
When the negotiations with Odebrecht are concluded,
González will make a recommendation to the mayor, and it will be up to
him to send the contract to the commission. Before a vote of the full
commission, the deal will be subject to committee review.
Neves said he’s hopeful there will be a vote before the end of the year.
Zyscovich
said the proposed project is part of a worldwide trend toward
developing commercial and tourist centers within airports to generate
non-aeronautical revenue. “In order for us to stay competitive, Airport
City is a very important piece,’’ he said.
A study commissioned by
Odebrecht estimates the economic impact once Airport City is operating
at $1.6 billion annually. Economist Tony Villamil, who was retained by
Odebrecht, said Airport City will create 5,800 jobs during the
construction phase and 10,000 direct and indirect jobs once it is fully
developed and operational.
The genesis of Airport City goes back
several years. Odebrecht USA itself came up with the idea and first took
it to the airport.
“For many years, we saw all this vacant land
that they weren’t using at the airport,’’ said Neves. Odebrecht prepared
a report and presented the airport with possible opportunities for the
land. “But it didn’t seem to have any traction at first.”
But when Abreu took the helm, he saw the opportunities, said Odebrecht officials.
The
county heard oral presentations from two contenders for the airport
project — Odebrecht and Megaladon Development — in 2009 and Odebrecht,
as the highest-ranked team, won the right to negotiate a lease for the
project with the airport. It spent all of 2010 negotiating the Airport
City deal with the county and agreed to general terms in late 2011.
MOVING AHEAD
With
Airport City in limbo, Odebrecht USA is moving ahead with its other
Miami-Dade projects and the Odebrecht holding company continues to
dominate work on major construction projects throughout Latin America.
At
home in Brazil, it has had a hand in renovating Rio de Janeiro’s famed
Maracanã soccer stadium, which will be the site of the final World Cup
game, has finished construction on two of three other soccer stadiums
that will be used for the 2014 World Cup, and is working on the first
phase of a massive port redevelopment project, Porto Marvilha, in Rio.
It’s also involved in construction of the athletes’ village for the 2016
Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, oil rig construction for Petrobras and
hotel projects.
It has ethanol plants in Matto Grosso and Goias —
it’s the leading bio-energy company in Latin America, industrial plants,
hydro projects and green energy projects.
In Brazil, Odebrecht
began work on a $6 billion project in the Amazon, the Santo Antônio Dam,
about the same time as it started putting together the Airport City
project. Despite the need to divert the Madeira River and hire 13,000
workers for the project, it may finish the dam before Airport City goes
forward.
“It’s mind-boggling what’s going on in Brazil,’’ said Neves.
Odebrecht
also is working on Panama City’s first subway line, the Cinta Costera
highway project that crosses the water in front of the capital’s
historic section and the $700 million expansion of the Tocumen
International Airport. Company executives say they now expect they are
the biggest construction company in Panama.
The firm also is
involved in the expansion of the Caracas subway; the Rota do Sol
Highway, which connects Bogotá to Colombia’s Caribbean coast;
hydroelectric plants around the Americas, oil exploration in northwest
Venezuela, a high-speed train in Portugal and restoring an iron-ore
transporting railroad in Liberia.
Now Airport City could end up as one of Odebrecht’s greatest successes in South Florida or a source of continued turbulence.
Navarro
said he expected the LBA would take a similar attitude with other
Miami-Dade contracts that might involve Odebrecht. “It’s all in the same
context’’ of Mariel, he said.
At this point, Odebrecht has spent
“millions and millions’’ on planning and trying to win approval for
Airport City, said Neves, “and I would say it is a greater deal for the
county than it is for us.’
