Riviera Beach Chooses Haskell-CDM Smith JV for New Water Plant

Riviera Beach, Fla.—With the promise of delivering high-quality drinking water and spurring local economic growth and stability, the city of Riviera Beach, Florida, selected the joint venture (JV) of Haskell and CDM Smith to design and construct a new $100 to $150 million, state-of-the-art water treatment facility.

The new facility will replace Riviera Beach’s current 63-year-old plant that processes water using outdated technology and is continually challenged to meet the modern demands of Riviera Beach residents and businesses. The new facility design and construc­tion are expected to take 36 months.

“We will be known for the best water in Florida, not just in Palm Beach County,” said KaShamba Miller-Anderson, vice chair of the city’s utility special district board of directors. “It’s been a long time coming and I’m just really happy to be here with the group being able to make this moment happen.”

The new water treatment plant is one component of the city’s innovative “Reimagine Riviera Beach” initiative, through which the city is looking to take significant steps to spur rede­vel­op­ment of the community, starting with the investment in new municipal facilities. The city council recently gave the green light to build a new city hall.

“Riviera Beach is a growing community that's trans­form­ing itself, and the Riviera Beach Water Treatment Plant is a critical project for that trans­for­ma­tion,” said Pete Kinsley, president of Haskell’s infra­struc­ture & trans­porta­tion group. “The Haskell-CDM Smith joint venture with our local partner, Brown Electrical Solutions, will help the city realize that vision and complete this critical project.”

CDM Smith associate and client service leader Suzanne Mechler added, “Water is the core to any community and it is essential for growth. The city is committed to its Reimagine Riviera Beach campaign and has recognized that infra­struc­ture is a cornerstone to that success. Being a part of the revi­tal­iza­tion and having the opportunity to create a showcase facility that the city truly deserves is very meaningful and exciting to myself and our staff.”

Vincent Brown, owner of Brown Electrical Solutions, addressed the board on behalf of the JV team, attesting to the commitment Haskell and CDM Smith will make to the community.

“Haskell and CDM Smith share the same vision that I share, which is to build wealth here in Riviera Beach,” Brown said. “The vision is to ‘live, work and play.’ Brown Electrical Solutions works in Riviera Beach. We live in Riviera Beach, and we play in Riviera Beach. There are 35,000 residents of Riviera Beach. Some of the residents work for me. This is what a Riviera Beach dollar looks like.”

The JV will employ numerous local sub-contractors and vendors, focusing on supporting small, minority-owned and women-owned businesses. To that end, the JV’s commitment includes a pledge to break the project into many smaller bid packages to allow wide distri­b­u­tion among local subcon­trac­tors, along with a significant community outreach plan that includes mentor-protégé programs, conducting tours for local youth, and maximizing project awareness through public meetings.

The water treatment plant project will begin with a series of workshops, during which the JV design-build team will meet with city repre­sen­ta­tives to review alter­na­tives for the new water-treatment process and begin decision making that will allow equipment procurement, a vital issue to the project schedule given widespread supply chain problems.

“It's going to be a challenging job, but we have assembled the perfect team to deliver this project with excellence,” Kinsley said. The Haskell-CDM Smith JV pledges to create high-quality drinking water that'll serve this community for decades.

Haskell delivers more than $1 billion annually in Archi­tec­ture, Engineering, Construc­tion (AEC) and Consulting solutions to assure certainty of outcome for complex capital projects worldwide. Haskell is a global, fully integrated, single-source design-build and EPC firm with over 1,800 highly specialized, in-house design, construc­tion and admin­is­tra­tive profes­sion­als across industrial and commercial markets. With 20+ office locations around the globe, Haskell is a trusted partner for global and emerging clients.

Brown Electrical Solutions is a Riviera Beach-based firm that specializes in electrical contracting services and repairs. 

CDM Smith is a privately owned engineering and construc­tion firm providing legendary client service and smart solutions in water, environment, trans­porta­tion, energy and facilities. Passionate about our work and invested in each other, we are inspired to think and driven to solve the world's envi­ron­men­tal and infra­struc­ture challenges.