Apr 18, 2019 · Business

RCL unveils expansion plans for Miami corporate headquarters

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.  is releasing details for the development of a $300 million RCL corporate campus at the Port of Miami on Dodge Island in Biscayne Bay.

“This will be Miami’s first true corporate campus,” says Richard D. Fain, Chairman and CEO of RCL. “An abundance of green space, terraces, and outdoor areas will replace concrete and promote collaboration and wellness.”

Pending Miami Dade County’s final approval, the project groundbreaking is slated for June.  The new headquarters is designed as an architectural landmark for Miami and an emblem of the company’s focus on innovation, collaboration, sustainability, and growth.  When it debuts in 2020, the completed project will nearly double the workforce  capacity of the current campus from 2,200 to 4,200 employees.

“Three years ago we had about 15 or 20 people we considered ‘digital,’ and today we have over 700,” notes Jason Liberty, RCL Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We’re hiring as fast as we can, but there’s no more room in our current buildings for our growth, especially as we become a more complex business and seek to attract world-class talent to South Florida.”

The campus, landscaped with indigenous flora, will sport a soccer field, volleyball court, basketball court, and fitness center for employees.  It will include a new parking garage and built-in sustainability features, such as electric car chargers, photovoltaic cells, and rainwater collectors. At the heart of campus will be a 10-story, 350,000 square-foot building influenced by the graceful utility, fluidity, and innovative designs evident in the company’s ships.

“It’s sort of a ship at rest, but on land instead of in the sea,” says architect Kenneth Drucker, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C, of New York-based firm HOK, who designed the plan. “It will be filled with daylight and great views over the campus green and out to Biscayne Bay. Designing for a cruise line company — it’s all about the experiences.”

“RCL has come a long, long way since its first headquarters 50 years ago — a trailer on Biscayne Boulevard,” says Fain. “This campus serves as a sign of the company’s continuing commitment to its hometown, a beacon to the world-class talent it aims to attract — and a thank-you to everyone who has made RCL’s continuing growth possible.”

The campus plan will be the second highly visible construction project for RCL at Port of Miami in as many years. Last November, after a build time of 20 months, the company opened the 170,000-square-foot Terminal A. Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos A. Giménez stated that the new terminal enables the port to go from serving 750,000 of the cruise line’s passengers annually, roughly 15 percent of the port’s overall passenger traffic, to more than two million a year.