Miami Beach's long-running fight against rising water has run into a new obstacle: its own contractor. Ric-Man Construction Florida has sued the city over project delays and complications, according to the lawsuit, seeking nearly $21 million in costs tied to work along West Avenue north of 14th Street.
The dispute centers on the West Avenue Phase II project, a flood-prevention effort meant to reduce long-term flooding risks in one of Miami Beach's lowest-lying areas, where some elevations reach as low as 1.7 feet NAVD, according to the SoBe West Neighborhood Association. As reported by the Miami Herald, Ric-Man says it cannot complete or remove portions of its work because of unauthorized drainage connections it encountered underground, and the city has not yet filed a formal response to the complaint.
Ric-Man originally agreed in 2017 to install new storm drain systems, work on a filter and pump system discharging into Biscayne Bay, and raise roads throughout the corridor, per the lawsuit. Construction was scheduled to start that December and finish by August 2019. Instead, the project's estimated completion has stretched to early 2029, according to the lawsuit.
Buried Pipes Complicate the Dig
At the heart of the contractor's complaint are drainage pipes that local property owners connected to the system without authorization, work crews ran into as they dug through the corridor, according to the complaint. Ric-Man says it cannot legally connect those illegal pipes to the new drainage system, nor can it remove them without an alternative solution in place, per the same filing.
The stakes of simply ripping the pipes out are significant: removing the unauthorized connections would cause residents' yards and homes to flood during heavy rain or high tides, according to the complaint. Ric-Man also accuses the city of allowing construction to begin without addressing the hidden connections beforehand and failing to provide a clear plan to resolve them, the complaint states. The contractor further claims the city failed to coordinate with adjacent property owners, which it says prevented timely construction, according to the complaint.
The city has been down this road before. A separate Miami Beach project on Palm and Hibiscus islands drew a rebuke from Miami-Dade County's environmental department after the city failed to secure proper permits for storm drains there, the Miami Herald reported. A city report on that project also warned that raising roads could cause first-floor flooding on at least 15 properties because of runoff from a neighboring area, with the city proposing small stormwater pumps and drains at the lowest points to manage the risk, per the same report.
Construction Won't Stop, City Says
Despite the legal fight, work on West Avenue isn't pausing. The city has said day-to-day construction will continue without interruption while the dispute plays out, and the project contract requires the contractor to keep performing all work without interruption while disputes are addressed, according to the SoBe West Neighborhood Association. Ric-Man is required to continue working without interruption while the matter proceeds in court, per a city statement.
The project's next phase was scheduled to begin Monday on Lincoln Court north of Lincoln Road, per the lawsuit. Miami Beach attorney Ricardo J. Dopico told the Miami Herald that the city does not comment on pending litigation.
A Project That Keeps Growing
The price tag on West Avenue work has climbed steadily. The project's cost has doubled to nearly $100 million since the city signed its initial contract in 2017, the Miami Herald has reported, and the broader project's scope and budget have since expanded past that mark, according to NBC 6 South Florida. A separate $86 million design-build project covering the area from 14th to 17th streets along Bay Road and West Avenue to Alton Road, including a drainage pump station capable of handling 120,000 gallons per minute along with large-diameter pipelines and emergency generators, was detailed by Underground Construction.
Nearby businesses have felt the strain of years of digging. NBC 6's reporting found that a real estate office owner estimated commissions had dropped by about $2 million since work began on the block in June 2025, with businesses and neighbors describing muddy conditions and limited access hurting daily life and trade along Lincoln Road and West Avenue.
The broader push to flood-proof Miami Beach has always carried a steep cost. A citywide flood-prevention effort was once estimated at $400 million to $500 million, the Miami Herald reported in 2017, with plans at the time calling for roads to be raised by an average of two feet above current levels in the public right-of-way. Sunset Harbour's project was built in 2018, and the West Avenue project was described as the newest project in a 2022 report. The city has said Sunset Harbour's 2018 project has since spared that neighborhood from 137 tidal floods.
The scale of the challenge is tied to projections that the island faces about two feet of sea-level rise by 2060, enough, per the Miami Herald, to swamp 40 miles of roads if nothing is done. For now, the legal fight between Miami Beach and its contractor adds a new layer of uncertainty to a project residents have waited years to see finished.
