The renovations will happen in two phases. The first phase will consist of the construction of a multi-storied parking garage facility, directly adjacent to the existing Caleb Office Tower. The new parking garage will replace the four acre surface lot and will provide 324 parking spaces to patrons visiting the site.  Additionally, a new upcoming food service located on the first floor of the garage will complement the existing food service area on the first floor of the atrium.

“On this day, Miami-Dade County’s continued effort to provide a wide range of services to the community at the Joseph Caleb Center will be highlighted by the start of the First Phase Project renovations of the Joseph Caleb Center,” said Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez.

Improvements will also be made to the entrance of the site, the internal entry drive, and a new left hand turn lane into the Center, from NW 54th Street. The Art in Public Places features will contemplate an improvement of the campus, by way of enhancing the material finishes on the inter-connecting walkways connecting all buildings on the site, adding new lighting, seating and landscape possibilities.

The second phase of the project will commence next year and will entail the full renovation of the main entrance to the Joseph Caleb Center Office Tower, the improvement of all the ground floor public areas within the existing atrium, and the addition of ADA restrooms. Renovations of the second, third and seventh floors of the Office Tower will be conducted, to include two new Courtroom facilities for the Administrative Office of the Courts.

The center is named after Joseph Caleb known in the 1960’s as a labor leader to the community and the working man’s hero.  Joseph Caleb was instrumental in creating the Teamster union’s pension plan, its scholarship program for the children of worker and summer programs. On February 6, 1972, Joseph Caleb died leaving a community to mourn the loss of a man who led the nation’s second-largest local, the predominantly black Laborers International of North America Local 478 (AFL-CIO).