Commuters traveling to Miami International Airport can’t help but notice the huge concrete structure rising up on the east side of Le Jeune Road near 25th Street. The 27-acre site is the location of the Rental Car Center (RCC), which is part of the long-planned Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) Program.

The MIC Program is sponsored by the Florida Department of Transportation and consists of five major components: roadway improvements to Le Jeune Road (now complete), the RCC, the Miami Central Station, the MIA Mover, and future joint development.

The completed program will offer significant benefits to Miami-area commuters, providing connectivity for all forms of transportation at the Miami Central Station, including light and heavy rail systems, buses, taxis, rental cars, bicycles, and pedestrian. It will link all of these transportation modes to the Miami International Airport via the MIA Mover automated people mover system. In addition, by consolidating all rental car activities off-site at the RCC, traffic congestion will be significantly reduced leading to and from the airport, which is the Miami Dade area’s number one economic generator. The program will also give a significant boost to the surrounding area by promoting commercial redevelopment.

The consolidated RCC garage facility, which is now under construction, will accommodate approximately 16 rental car companies that are currently spread all around the perimeter of the airport (with future build-out capacity for a maximum of 20 companies). The facility consists of more than 3 million square feet on four levels, and costs an estimated $370 million. Funding for the MIC Program is derived from a variety of federal, state, local, and private sources, and the RCC construction cost will be paid in part by a daily customer facility charge placed on each rental car transaction completed at the facility. The Florida Department of Transportation is overseeing the construction of the center, but it will eventually be operated by the Miami Dade Aviation Department. AECOM is the program manager and conceptual designer for the MIC Program, while the RCC production architect of record is Sequeira & Gavarrete (Heery/S&G) in Coral Gables, Fla. Structural engineering is being performed by Walker Parking Consultants out of Tampa, Fla. The construction manager is Turner Construction Company of Miami.

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