Maleta Construction Breaks Ground on Opera Center

MIAMI-Maleta Construction Co. Inc. of Fort Lauderdale, FL, has had its official groundbreaking on the 284,000-sf Andersen Opera Center in Miami, FL. The $25 million project, which is scheduled to be completed in 2005, will be located across the street from the Miami Performing Arts Center. Construction is scheduled to start in about six months, but the groundbreaking was necessary at this time so the project could receive additional funding, according to a spokeswoman.

In the mixed-use building, Coral Gables, FL-based Florida Grand Opera will consolidate its administrative, musical and production offices. The building also will include artist apartments, a 500-seat theater, rehearsal halls and a parking garage. The opera center was designed in a modernist style and will feature glass curtain walls, a glass balcony bridge and a two-story lobby.