News And Press

Boca Raton-based Procacci Development Corporation has become the leading source for hurricane-resistant buildings in the Miami International Airport area.

Procacci Development recently paid $21.4 million to acquire 29 acres of land at the Dolphin Commerce Center, located in the Miami Airport West area.

The land, purchased from Lightspeed at Beacon Tradeport Development LLC, will be used to construct office buildings able to withstand Category 5 hurricane winds of up to 185 miles per hour.

The recently acquired land will be added to 14 acres Procacci Development purchased earlier.  As a result, the company is now known as the largest landowner within Dolphin Commerce.

Philip Procacci, president of Procacci Development, said the company is moving forward in developing more than 700,000 square feet of Class "A" office buildings. An additional 90,900 square feet of warehouse/showroom space will be built as well.

"Once completed, the hurricane-resistant office buildings at our Crossroads at Dolphin Commerce Center project will offer business owners a safe and viable alternative to protect their assets during a hurricane."

A developer for 30 years, Procacci first entertained the idea of hurricane-resistant buildings after Hurricanes Charley and Frances struck central and south Florida in 2004.

Seeing the damage to his Orlando office because of Charley, Procacci pondered what could be done to safeguard office buildings against the forces of nature.

"I knew there had to be a better way," he said. "I started to work with my architect and others, finally coming up with a great design plan."

The components of Procacci's hurricane-resistant design outline include a concrete roof, reinforced steel and high-impact glass.

One of the plan's more significant features is concrete foundations built around the building's air-conditioning units.

"Putting those in will prevent the AC units, which are very crucial in any office building, from being damaged," Procacci said.

When you factor in the 20,000 gallons of gasoline used to run the building's generator, Procacci predicts each building will be able to operate for 14 days.

He added that construction costs related to making the building design a reality are some 20 percent higher than conventional projects.

"It may be a little bit more, but the ability to prevent lost productivity and revenue makes this design a tremendous value," Procacci said.

The newly acquired land at Dolphin Commerce will house two three-story buildings, 86,500 square feet each, which will front the Dolphin Mall. The buildings are expected to be ready for occupancy by fall of 2007.

Three warehouse/showroom bays, ranging from 1,512 to 4,176 square feet, will also be available for lease.

On the previously acquired 14 acres that are located in front of the Florida Turnpike, two office buildings totaling 185,000 square feet each are currently available as build-to-suit opportunities.

Procacci pointed out that the area was an ideal one for development.

"We've had our eye on Miami's Airport West corridor because it has always been a thriving market for office development due to its proximity to Florida's Turnpike, the Dolphin Expressway, the Miami International Airport and the surrounding airports," he said.

Elsewhere, Procacci Development is constructing a combined 180,000 square feet of office buildings in West Palm Beach.

Known as Emerald View at Vista Center, the project is expected to be completed in February of 2007.

Contact Corey Siggins at 561-549-0845 or at csiggins@bocanews.com.

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