Westfield's Miami contract falls short of expectations

Gavin Lipsith

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Miami-Dade county commissioners have claimed that a rejected retail management contract would have left the airport with an annual revenue shortfall of $2m

Westfield Concessions Management's aborted retail management contract for Miami International airport's north and south terminals would have left the airport with $18m less revenue than anticipated over the contract's nine-year term, according to a report in Miami Today. At least two members of awarding body Miami-Dade County Commission claimed that the proposal—in response to a request for a minimum annual guarantee of $1.3m and minimum annual rent of $2m—would have resulted in a loss of $2m each year.

Some commissioners also claimed that the original request for proposals had excluded several smaller companies and had failed to encourage bidders to include many local companies in their plans. The commission heard that of the 36 outlets allocated to Westfield, eight had been targeted for disadvantaged business enterprises. Of those only three were local businesses.

County manager George Burgess recommended that the next requests for proposals should further subdivide packages into bundles of up to 12 outlets to increase the level of competition for the contracts.

The commission had planned to execute the contract on July 7 after the regional transportation committee recommended Westfield, the sole bidder in the process. But it now seems likely that the county will relaunch the bidding process within the next month, with a view to appointing a management company by January 2006.