The City Commission hired Hycon Investments for $1,239,900 to build a 90-seat cinema space at 240 Aragon Ave. and extended the cinema's lease to 2035.

The Coral Gables Art Cinema is a step closer to its expansion. The City Commission voted 5-0 on Tuesday to hire Hycon Investments LLC to build a 90-seat cinema space at 240 Aragon Ave., in the same city-owned building as the nonprofit cinema.

The contract is for $1,239,900, according to the city’s procurement memo. The work is the interior build-out of the new cinema space and its support areas.

In a second 5-0 vote, the commission approved a new lease amendment with Coral Gables Cinemateque Inc., the nonprofit that runs the cinema. It extends the lease by five years, to Sept. 30, 2035. Both votes are in the city’s meeting record.

The cinema opened in 2010 at 260 Aragon Ave. and has 141 seats, according to the city’s listing.

Who pays

The city and the cinema split the construction bill, according to the agenda memo:

Payer Amount
City of Coral Gables (capital improvement fund) $442,955
Coral Gables Cinemateque Inc. $796,945
Total contract $1,239,900

The lease amendment puts the total construction cost at an estimated $1,425,885, including a 15% contingency. The city’s share is capped at $450,000. The cinema pays anything above that, the lease memo says.

The commission first set aside $350,000 for the expansion in May 2019. It added $100,000 on May 5, 2026.

The bids

The city advertised the job on June 29. It notified 124 possible bidders, and 14 firms bid by Aug. 19.

The lowest bid, $1,023,234 from RYD Construction, was ruled non-responsive. The firm did not show the Florida certified general contractor license the bid required, the memo says. Hycon’s bid was the next lowest. West Construction was $5,597 higher.

Bar chart of the 14 bids for the Coral Gables Art Cinema expansion, from $1.02 million by RYD Construction, which was ruled non-responsive, and $1.24 million by Hycon Investments, which won, up to $1.88 million by AVR Contractors.
All 14 bids for the Art Cinema build-out. Chart by Coral Gables Today
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The full bid tabulation:

Bidder Total bid
RYD Construction (non-responsive) $1,023,234.00
Hycon Investments $1,239,900.00
West Construction $1,245,496.63
Vercetti Enterprises $1,349,655.00
Tadeos Engineering $1,383,896.00
LEE Construction Group $1,429,002.00
Carivon Construction $1,441,151.00
Retcom Construction $1,476,611.66
M&J General Contractors $1,515,304.94
Geordis Construction $1,601,013.79
Florida Construction & Engineering $1,659,667.00
PF Management & Construction $1,668,929.12
Miliani Construction $1,718,850.50
AVR Contractors $1,875,000.00

The new lease terms

The amendment keeps the cinema in the city-owned building at 240-260 Aragon Ave. for longer:

  • Extension: five more years, Oct. 1, 2030, to Sept. 30, 2035, with rent rising 3% a year
  • Option: one more five-year renewal after that
  • Rent for the new space: $29,870 a year, or $10 a square foot
  • When that rent starts: when the cinema opens any part of the new space, or six months after the city’s work is substantially complete, whichever comes first
  • Insurance: the cinema pays its share of the building’s insurance

The commission’s vote approved the amendment “subject to certain conditions,” the resolution title says.

What it means for you

  • The cinema stays open on Aragon Avenue while the work is planned. The city has not published a construction start date or an opening date for the new space.
  • The city’s cost is capped at $450,000, from its capital improvement fund. Any overrun falls to the cinema.

For more on the area, see our Miracle Mile and downtown guide and our parking guide.