About the Project
Baptist Health South Florida (BHSF) selected Hensel Phelps as the Construction Manager at Risk for the new hotel and conference center located on the BHSF main campus in Miami, Florida. The Hilton Miami Dadeland Hotel is eight levels and features 184 contemporary rooms, including 24 suites tailored to guests staying for extended periods, providing a welcoming and uplifting environment for hotel guests. The hotel offers the largest meeting and event space in the area with 10,000 SF of indoor and outdoor meeting space, including a 6,450 SF ballroom. Amenities include Hilton’s revolutionary state-of-the-art Five Feet to Fitness in-room wellness concept, private outdoor patio and pool, a meditation garden, a Starbucks, Wall of Water bar, and Table 55, the hotel’s farm-to-table restaurant and bar.
“Hensel Phelps’ collaborative approach allowed for the team to be fully integrated and focus on developing value-driven solutions that saved both time and money. Hensel Phelps’ organization and project management approach allowed the team to provide a chic modern hotel to a satisfied client.”
– Michael Harris, Associate Vice President, CallisonRTKL
The Challenge
Category 5 Hurricane Poses Threat to South Florida.
In the fall of 2017, Hurricane Irma became the strongest Atlantic hurricane since 2015, lasting from August 31 until September 11. The category 5 storm hit South Florida on September 10, triggering Florida officials to order 6.5 million people to evacuate. During this time, the Hilton Miami Dadeland Hotel was four months into construction and needed to prepare the site for the storm.
Solution
Hensel Phelps Works Swiftly to Enact Hurricane Plan Preparations.
Once Hurricane Irma was identified as a threat to South Florida, the Hensel Phelps Hurricane Plan was enacted. The Hurricane Plan provides and outlines the actions to be taken by Hensel Phelps in conjunction with its associates and trade partners at the project. The plan establishes resources and delineates responsibilities to ensure all possible protection is provided if facilities and equipment are threatened by a hurricane or tropical storm.
A nine workday extension was placed in order to establish resources and delineate responsibilities across all associates and trade partners. The most intensive effort involved the dismantling of the 10,000 SF of formwork prior to the storm’s arrival as well as the reinstallation, coupled with the time spent on evacuating and returning for the staff. Among other activities that took place to secure the site were: fueling all equipment and stockpiling all additional fuel as fuel was scarce immediately following the storm, securing all equipment as theft is also common post storm, banding, strapping, or removing all loose material onsite, and laying down the boom of the crane. Hensel Phelps always takes into consideration hurricane season and zones when selecting cranes for a jobsite and recommends loose material removal where feasible.
The Result
Hensel Phelps Delivers Brand New Guest-Centered Hotel in South Florida.
Building projects in Florida will inevitably pose weather challenges. Despite a nine workday extension on the original project schedule, Hensel Phelps worked quickly and proactively to enact hurricane preparations, support individual staff needs, especially those who had never been through a hurricane before, and bring to fruition the client’s vision for their future guests and community in Miami, Florida.
