Watson Island Aviation Complex Under City's Eye

Now that the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau is no longer moving to Watson Island, Miami officials are rethinking the use of 5.6 acres on prime land. The only tenant enlisted to occupy the parcel so far is Chalk's Ocean Airways, owned by Miami entrepreneur James Confalone. Chalk's, the the world's oldest scheduled airline, currently operates a small terminal on the island, uses Biscayne Bay as the runway for its seaplanes heading to and from the Caribbean.

Early last month, the city picked Kimley-Horn and Associates, a national consulting firm, to come up with different development alternatives for the waterfront site, said Laura Billberry, the city's assistant director of the department of economic development. She expects to have a preview of the options by the end of this month.

The alternatives will include building a terminal to be used only by Chalk's, which has a 30-year-lease with the city; a complex to lodge Chalk's and another tenant; an airport for helicopters next to Chalk's; or a combined facility to include multiple tenants such as different agencies from the Department of Homeland Security, to control the arrival of international visitors.

The city already has $4.7 million available from the Florida Department of Transportation to build the transportation hub.

For at least five years, the city and the bureau had been planning to jointly build an $11.7 million complex. It would have included an air museum, a visitor's center, a 2,996-square-foot international press center, a 44,000-square-foot airport for helicopters and a 106,000-square-foot airport for seaplanes.

That proposal vanished last month, when the bureau announced it would extend its current lease, at 701 Brickell Ave., for 10 years. The decision to stay on Brickell will save the bureau more than $2.5 million, said William Talbert III, the bureau's president and CEO.

FMI: www.chalksoceanairways.com