Fort Lauderdale airport's rental car garage has $1.7 million repair bill

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Fort Lauderdale airport's rental car garage has $1.7 million repair

bill

Rental car facility to be fixed at cost of $1.7 million

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, FL*

By Wyman

May 11, 2008

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-

flbairport0511sbmay11,0,2753980.story?track=rss

Since its opening three years ago, the rental car garage at Fort

Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport has been plagued by

flooding and mold problems.

Now, major repairs are needed.

Rental car agencies have had only limited use of their offices in

the $247 million garage that allowed them to consolidate operations

under one roof at the airport. The quick-turnaround area where

drivers return cars on the first floor has remained completely open

despite the problems.

Airport officials, contractors and architects last week reached a

settlement to share the $1.7 million needed to pay for repairs. They

had been mired for years over who was to blame and what repairs were

needed. " The building is living up to its promise of being a very

good, centralized rental car facility, but for the rental car

companies, their operations have been problematic because of the

issues that they've faced, " Aviation Director Kent said.

To fix the problem, the airport will install pumps and divert

flooding water. That decision comes despite the fact that county

memos show some independent engineers recommended that more

extensive work is necessary, including raising the height of the

first floor by more than eight inches to avoid further flooding. The

settlement of the rental car center's flooding follows on the heels

of another construction problem at the airport. The airport ignored

advice and built a baggage-handling center for Terminal 4 that lacks

a roof.

Approved in 1999 and located at the entrance to the airport, the

rental car garage was built to limit the circulation of minibuses

picking up and dropping off travelers between the rental car

companies and airline terminals.

Twelve rental car agencies occupy the first four floors, while five

upper floors are devoted to extra parking. About 130 fuel pumps,

several car washes and vehicle maintenance areas occupy the first

floor along with the car drop-off area and agency offices.

The building was designed by Spillis Candela & Partners and built by

Cummings-Centex Rooney, a local consortium, with San Francisco-based

URS Corp. overseeing the work. The car rental project was financed

through an increase in fees on car rentals.

Airport officials heralded the center's opening as a way to

streamline travel and increase convenience for vacationers. " Our

passengers, whether they walk across the street or take a short bus

ride, will be in the terminal in minutes, " 's predecessor, Tom

Jargiello, said at the dedication ceremony in January 2005.

The problems arose within months.

According to an airport report to county commissioners last month,

heavy rains began causing flooding on the first floor by mid-2005.

The airport first ordered work to repair drywall and fix mold

problems in 2006 at a cost of $149,000.

Independent evaluations of the damage have since concluded that the

building was poorly located, the first floor was not built properly

and general maintenance by the car rental companies has been lacking

since the opening. One outside engineer stated last year " they can't

maintain, paint or caulk their way out of this problem. "

An analysis drawn up by forensic engineers cited Spillis Candella as

responsible for most of the problems. The primary problem, the

building's location, was labeled the joint responsibility of Spillis

Candella, the airport, URS and Cummings-Centex Rooney.

Under the settlement agreement, Spillis Candela will pay $653,000 of

the $1.7 million in repairs now needed. The airport will pay

$207,000, the rental car agencies will pay $827,000 and Singer

Architects will pay $20,000. Singer designed some of the rental car

offices.

Each side has been pointing fingers at others for the problems.

Singer complained last month that URS and the airport became aware

of the flooding problems during construction of the rental car

offices and didn't tell the firm so it could halt work and redesign

that area. County Auditor Evan Lukic, meanwhile, noted in a memo

that Spillis Candella should have advised the county if the site was

inappropriate.

Spillis Candella is based in Miami and counts the design of the

L. Knight Center, Miami International Airport's Concourse A,

Michigan's Supreme Court building and Philip ' headquarters

among its major projects. Through a spokesman, the firm declined to

comment on how the problems occurred or its share of responsibility.

" We are committed to serving the best interests of Broward County,

the tenants of the rental car facility and all the users of this

award-winning facility, " Spillis Candela spokesman Genarro

said. " We look forward to continuing to work with the other parties

to the settlement to complete the supplemental work that has been

identified. "

County commissioners reluctantly agreed to the rental car center

settlement after being assured by their lawyers that they could

continue their legal fight over the building's design if the repairs

don't fix the problems.

" There is enough responsibility to go around, " Mayor Lois Wexler

said. " It needed to be fixed a long time ago, and too many years

have gone by. "

Wyman can be reached at swyman@... or 954-356-

4511.