The Miami-Dade County Commission voted unanimously to award black-owned Concessions Miami a 10-year, $150 million deal with Miami International Airport. Per the agreement, Concessions Miami will begin construction, financing, subleasing, and management of eight dining facilities within the airport.
The food and beverage provider will invest $7 million to cover design and construction costs, in partnership with Hispanic-owned Las Vegas Restaurant II Corp. Together, the companies will open a variety of franchises, including T.G.I. Friday’s, The Coffee Beanery, Wendy’s, and Ku-Va — a 6,000 square-foot Cuban eatery. The first facilities will open this fall, with final renovations completed by 2008.
Albert E. Dotson, Jr., a partner with Miami firm Bilzin Sumberg, who represented Concessions Miami throughout the process, calls the victory a major win. “This was an open-market bid that was not limited to African American or minority-owned companies. Having a black-owned vendor in charge of concessions at a major gateway to Latin and South America demonstrates that [minority-owned] organizations like Concessions [Miami] can compete extremely well in an open market.”
R. Anthony Joseph, president of Concessions International L.L.C., parent company of Concessions Miami, says that once renovations are complete, he projects “revenues of $16 million the first year.” Concessions International, L.L.C. was founded in 1979 by Herman J. Russell, founder of H.J. Russell & Co. (No. 16 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/ SERVICE 100 list with $316.94 million in sales).