The Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners approved a minimum of $400 million in private investment to construct a four-story cargo facility at Miami International Airport (MIA) that will be the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere. It will increase the airport’s total cargo capacity by at least 50% or potentially up to two million tons annually. Miami Gateway Partners, the winning vendor, is a joint venture between Houston-based Airis Aviation Development and Vancouver-based Vantage Airport Group. The developers will make a minimum investment of $400 million to construct a four-level automated vertical cargo handling structure.

The future Vertically Integrated Cargo Community (VICC) at MIA, a nearly 800,000-square-foot facility on 11 acres of airport land, will have a local economic impact: 8,500 new temporary jobs will be created, earning a total of $500 million in wages during five years of design and construction, and 2,500 new permanent jobs will be created, earning $100 million post-construction.

The project is scheduled for completion in 2029.